


Two Lost Souls Swimming in a Fish Bowl

by ALittleLampPost



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Cute, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Holtzbert - Freeform, Might be slightly OOC, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-08-30 04:51:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8519167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleLampPost/pseuds/ALittleLampPost
Summary: Erin is worried about people not believing her, Holtzmann is serious for a minute, and they end up in bed together (no, God, not like that, jeesh. Come on, guys). Following that is super fluffy domestic things. And maybe some ghost busting. You never know...





	1. Because You're Different

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my attempt at a Holtzbert fic. More or less wrote this instead of paying attention to whatever it is my professor was lecturing about ehe… Hopefully it was worth it!

It had been a couple of days since the ghostbusters had saved New York city from a near ghost-apocalypse, and every day they were growing more popular, getting more phone calls and messages of ghost sightings. The high of that day was still running deep within them, and they had all started working on their own little projects to improve theories, equipment, and in Erin’s case, work on making people believe her. It might sound crazy, but even with the near apocalyptic happening mere weeks ago, there were still some people out there who didn’t believe this was all actually happening, and for some reason it bugged her. She’d been called a ghost girl more or less her entire life, her own parents had rather sent her into therapy than try and actually listen to her -  or, God forbid, actually believe her. She was so sick and tired of people not believing her, especially when there was a bunch of proof right in front of their eyes

She sighed heavily and let her head fall to her desk, _why does it have to be so damn hard?_ At that exact moment, she wanted nothing more than to learn how not to care so much about what other people thought of her, because did it really matter in the end anyway?

Erin took a deep breath and lifted her head from her desk, thinking she’d just go home for the day – wasn’t like she’d get any work done like this anyway. She all but jumped out of her seat when she looked up to see Holtzmann standing in front of her desk just looking at her.

“Jesus Christ, Holtz! What the hell?”

Holtzmann just shrugged and carefully asked, “you uhh, you okay there?”

Erin sighed and shook her head, “I don’t know…”

“People kinda getting to you, huh?” When Erin raised her eyebrows in surprise, Holtzmann shrugged again, “I sometimes pick up things around here that are not radioactive.”

Erin laughed and mutter an, “of course you do…” Before continuing, “I just- I know I should be happy that we saved the city and everything, but it still bothers me that there are people out there who don’t believe me- us! Who don’t believe us,” she was quick to recover.

Holtzmann couldn’t exactly deny it, the reporters and non-believers had been singling out Erin on more than one occasion, there were always at least a couple nasty comments thrown her way. Needless to say that Erin punching that guy a week ago was probably not helping her image at all. She briefly considered making some stupid joke, but figured there was a right time and a wrong time, and seeing a genuinely confused and bummed out Erin, Holtzmann told herself now was definitely not the time. “I’m sorry, Erin,” was all she could think to say.

Erin just looked at her for a moment before squinting slightly, feeling like a joke was bound to follow. After all, it wasn’t exactly Holtzmann’s strong suit to be serious and genuine. When Erin just continued to look at her, Holtzmann let out a laugh and asked, “what?”

“You’re not gonna make some joke, or even worse – a pun...?” Erin asked in slight disbelief.

Holtzmann furrowed her eyebrows then, “no…? You don’t seem to be feeling super great right now, why would I make some stupid joke and put you down further?”

“Because you’re never serious about anything? Why would this be different?”

Holtzmann took a moment to think about it, before once again shrugging, “because _you’re_ different I guess.”

Holtzmann made to leave, and just as she was headed up the stairs again to get back to work on the containment unit that was almost ready to be tested, Erin spoke up again, “what does that even mean?” _Because I’m different? What am I supposed to do with that?_ Erin thought to herself. When she didn’t get a response she sighed, and let her head fall to her desk once again, replaying the conversation she and Holtzmann had just had, _Holtz is never serious. Abby and I nearly died a couple of days ago, and even then the first thing to come out of her mouth the second she knew we were safe was a joke. ‘It’s 2040. Our president is a plant.’ Never serious… But supposedly I’m different?_

\----------------------------------------------

While Erin was downstairs growing increasingly frustrated, Holtzmann was upstairs working on her containment unit, trying to lower the radiation levels to somewhere it would be safe to be in there for more than an hour without experiencing any kinds of hair loss. She was thinking about her conversation with Erin, _‘because you’re different I guess’, that was the best you could come up with? Jeesh, she really is getting to you…_

Holtzmann had known for a few days now that her feelings for Erin was something beyond that of a platonic friendship, and ever since she came to that realisation, being around Erin had made her uncharacteristically nervous and aware of her surroundings. Since she first laid eyes on Erin she’d know she felt something, but she had decided to disregard it all the same. Now that they were working together in close proximity every single day though, disregarding it became more and more of a challenge every single day.

“What do you mean because I’m different?” Erin’s voice broke Holtzmann out of her thoughts and she managed to drop the screw driver she was holding all the same, “oh my God, Holtz! Careful! Isn’t it you who keep telling us if one of us sneezes a little too hard this whole place will blow up?” Erin laughed a little at the end to try and get rid of some of the tension, but it was more an awkward laugh than anything.

Holtz blinked a couple of times, “uhh yes! Right, sorry.” She picked up the screw driver again and looked to Erin with an innocent smile, “guess I just didn’t expect to see you again so soon!” _Oh my God, Holtzmann, what are you doing? Get it together._

They were stood looking at each other for a couple of minutes before Holtzmann remembered Erin had asked her a question, and that there was a purpose for her coming up there. “And I meant because you’re different.”

Erin rolled her eyes, “well yes, I heard what you said back there, but what does that mean – ‘because I’m different’?”

“Well, Erin,” Holtzmann started, “it means exactly that.” When Erin just gave her a look, Holtzmann let out an exaggerated sigh before saying, “look. Erin. I know I joke around a lot and I’m a complete goof more than half the time, but I would never make a joke of your feelings. Especially not when you’re clearly having a tough day, I’d never put you down further just to have the chance to make one more pun or tell one more joke. Being serious for a few minutes won’t kill me. Not when it’s for you,” she added quietly. Holtzmann was looking at her feet, not completely comfortable with meeting Erin’s eyes as she finished.

“That’s…” Erin started, clearly looking for the words to express whatever it was she was currently feeling, “that’s actually really sweet of you, Holtz. Thank you.”

When Holtzmann looked up again, she was met with a smiling Erin, and she couldn’t help the grin that took over her own face. Once again they were stood just looking at one another, smiling.

“God, your eyes are mesmerising,” Erin suddenly said, quickly throwing a hand over her mouth as her cheeks turned a deep red and her eyes went wide.

Holtzmann raised an eyebrow and smirked, “oh really?” 

Erin groaned in frustration and quickly turned around trying to make a break for it, but Holtzmann grabbed her wrist before she could leave.

“No, wait, don’t leave! Do you want to help me figure out how we can stabilise this containment unit?” She asked, not wanting Erin to leave yet.

Smiling, Erin answered, “sure.” She justified her clear willingness to stay, and her surprisingly quick response, by telling herself it was for safety reasons. _Safety! Yes, that’s it. God knows leaving Holtz here alone is the last thing anyone should do…_ Because Erin Gilbert did not have any kinds of feelings for Holtzmann, not at all.

\----------------------------------------------

They’d been at it for hours, making some steady progress, before they realised Abby and Patty had left and it was actually getting kind of late. Neither of them had made any indication of wanting to leave, and it was Holtzmann who eventually spoke up and mentioned something about being hungry and ordering some food.

They were sat eating in a comfortable silence, Erin sneaking glances at Holtzmann and smiling to herself at the sight of her devouring her food – how was she breathing?

“You know,” Erin started, “I think you’re supposed to chew your food before you swallow it…”

Holtzmann froze mid-bite and looked at Erin, letting a grin take over her face. She took another bite and swallowed with practically no chewing for emphasis, before answering, “excessive chewing is a waste of time.”

“More like an extreme choking hazard,” Erin mumbled. She didn’t realise she’d said it out loud until Holtzmann broke out laughing.

“Always with the safety…” She said, lightly shaking her head. “In my defence though, I was really hungry and this food is really good.”

Erin just rolled her eyes, “yeahyeah, whatever you say!”

\----------------------------------------------

“You know,” Holtzmann started, “we could probably just sleep here tonight, I mean there is a bed – well, mattress – and that way we wouldn’t have to make the trip home. I mean it is nearly 2am, which also known as creepy dudes and ghosts prime time.”

They had both completely lost track of time, until Erin had yawned way too wide for a normal person – “Christ, how did your jaw not dislocate just then” Holtzmann had laughed.  Erin had slightly panicked for a moment when she realised it was nearly 2am, and she was supposed to be back at work in roughly 6 hours. That’s when Holtzmann made the suggestion to just sleep at the Ghostbusters HQ, and Erin was seriously considering it.

“I mean, it probably isn’t really safe to walk around outside this time of night, is it?” She mused, “so it’s just practical, and sensible, to stay, that’s all.”

Holtzmann nearly snorted “sure!” Before mumbling, “if you really need a ‘sensible’ reason.”

Holtzmann was kind enough to find a new toothbrush for Erin, knowing she was likely to want to complete as much of some sort of night ritual as she could, despite being stuck at her workplace. Holtzmann had unintentionally managed to stay late when she had been working on some project a couple of times too many, and had basically bought essentials to keep at the HQ. Just in case. Erin took it gratefully, and before they knew it, they were in bed together, both lying slightly awkwardly, not really sure what to do or say.

It was Holtzmann who eventually needed to break the tension, and so she did. “So this is definitely not anything like what I imagined our first time sleeping together would be like.”

Erin laughed before saying, “yeah, me neither.”

It took her a minute to realise what she’d say, Holtzmann waiting patiently for it to dawn on Erin, a smirk playing on her lips.

When Erin did realise, her eyes widened comically, and she stumbled over her words trying to explain herself. “No! Nonono, that’s not- I didn’t- I mean I did, but it’s not what- I haven’t- well kinda, but I never-“ She stopped for a moment to actually think about what she was could possibly say to make this go away. In the end, she came up empty, and decided to just go with it. Sighing, she lifted an arm to cover her face as she said, “okay, so I might have imagined it once or twice… Let’s just pretend I didn’t just say that.”

Holtzmann’s face broke out in a grin, “Erin,” she tried. When Erin just shook her head, Holtzmann reached up and tried to pry Erin’s arm away from her face, “Erin, come on…”

Erin lifted her arm and turned to face Holtzmann, frowning and pouting slightly, not entirely happy with the situation. “What?”

Making a split second decision, Holtzmann’s eyes flickered for only a moment to Erin’s lips, before she smiled and leaned forward, capturing Erin’s lips with her own.

It didn’t take long for Erin to respond to the light kiss, and just as she did, Holtzmann pulled back, unsure of Erin’s reaction and – was she nervous? Erin fought a smile trying to make its way to her lips as she leaned in, giving Holtzmann another short, but sweet, kiss.

Holtzmann raised her eyebrows when Erin pulled back, and all Erin could think to say was, “what? You started it.”

Shock dominated Holtzmann’s features for a short moment before she broke out laughing and scooting closer to Erin, wrapping her arms around her. She felt Erin lean into her touch, and she couldn’t help the face splitting grin that took over her face – she did not mind this at all.

Erin sighed happily as she leaned into Holtzmann’s hold, thinking she could get used to this. She finally let herself relax completely for the first time that day, and just now felt how tired she actually was. Tucked her head in the nook of Holtzmann’s neck and closed her eyes, and hearing sleep calling her name, she let herself be taken over by it.

Holtzmann was laid just looking at Erin for a moment. What this all meant she had no idea, but whatever it was, she was not complaining. She felt Erin’s breaths even out, and closed her own eyes, soon falling asleep herself, exhausted after a good and productive day.


	2. Because You're Beautiful

Erin was the first to wake up the next day, and as she turned around and burrowed her face in the crook of Holtzmann’s neck, she breathed in deeply. As she did so, all her senses were flooded with all things Holtzmann – mostly the smell of motor oil. Erin didn’t mind though, because it was the smell of Holtzmann, she couldn’t help but think how good she felt in that exact moment. She smiled to herself at the memory of last night, of Holtzmann kissing her, and of her kissing Holtzmann. She couldn’t help but think it had happened in an even better way than what she’d always imagined, which she found a little bit surprising because she was sure in her head she’d gone through every possible scenario. Clearly she’d missed one, and the longer she thought about it, she found that she didn’t mind one bit. Even if it was just a short light kiss, Erin knew she wasn’t delusional – it definitely meant something, and it had even more definitely started something. Erin, for the first time in a long time, allowed her mind to wander, thinking about Holtzmann and what could be. She sighed contently without realising it at first, and as she realised, she knew she was blushing furiously. She dared to open her eyes while she carefully lifted her head a little, and she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she confirmed Holtzmann was still fast asleep, looking as carefree as ever. A huge smile took over her face – it seemed to be doing that a lot this morning – and she carefully snuggled closer to Holtzmann, laying her head back down, thinking a bit more sleep couldn’t possibly hurt.

\----------------------------------------------

The next time Erin woke up, she furrowed her brows as she reached over to where she could have sworn Holtzmann had been lying right next to her a little while ago. She opened her eyes and sat up, taking a moment to blink the sleep out of her eyes before being able to confirm that there was no Holtzmann next to her this time. Her first thoughts were slightly angsty, _oh God, I completely misread this whole situation. Holtz doesn’t actually like me, why would she? I’m just some uptight particle physicist who used to wear tweed and tiny bowties, of course she doesn’t_ like _like me._

Just as her thoughts were getting progressively more negative, Holtzmann waltzed back in with two cups and a paper bag in hand, a grin spreading across her face when she saw Erin was awake.

“Hey! You’re up,” Holtzmann said, “I’ve got coffee and bagels.”

Erin just looked at her then, thinking to herself, _she went out and got breakfast? What in the world… Is that even something Holtz does?_

When Erin didn’t answer her right away, Holtzmann’s grin fell and her mind started working, “or I mean, if you don’t want any of this I can go out and get something else? I just assumed everyone loves bagels because I do, but obviously not everyone does, so if you don-“

“Holtz, breathe. Bagels and coffee sounds perfect. Thank you.”

Holtzmann’s grin found its way back to her face and she kicked off her shoes before all but jumping back onto the bed to sit across from Erin. She handed her a cup and the bag, figuring the polite thing to do was to serve Erin first. Although ‘serving’ something in a paper bag wasn’t exactly super classy, Holtzmann felt proud when a light pink made its way to Erin’s cheeks as she accepted the bag, thinking it was good enough for now.

Erin glanced at the time, seeing it was 11am, “hey, where are Patty and Abby, shouldn’t they be here by now?”

It was Holtzmann’s time to blush as she mumbled her answer, “they both left pretty much as soon as they got here. Something about it being too early for lovey-dovey stuff, I don’t know…” She spoke up a little, “they will probably be back later today, I know Abby wanted us all to go check out this situation at some guys place.”

Erin simply nodded and took a bite of her bagel, sighing happily and mumbling, “oh my gosh this is amazing.”

Holtzmann just laughed and took a bite of her own, completely agreeing with Erin’s statement.

They had sat eating in mostly comfortable silence when Holtzmann spoke up again, “oh, and I think I might have had a breakthrough with the containment unit! Or I thought of something earlier that I’d like to try out… I’ll be happy to have you as a helper if you want to?”

Erin smiled and nodded, “I would love to.” She didn’t think it was possible, but Holtzmann’s smile grew a little bit wider, and Erin’s heart broke a little bit as she suddenly remembered, “oh, but I promised Patty I’d go over this one theory she asked about…” Holtzmann’s smile fell for only a fraction of a second, but Erin noticed, and she was quick to recover, “but I’m sure that won’t take long! After I’ve helped Patty out I am all yours.”

Holtzmann nodded, “alright then, it’s a date.”

\----------------------------------------------

Abby and Patty had come back to the headquarters, and Erin had spent a couple hours trying to help Patty understand exactly what it was Erin did as a theoretical particle physicist. Granted she had spent more time being frustrated than actually helpful. Erin was not the patient type, but lucky for her, Patty was, and she worked through Erin’s frustration while trying her best to get a grasp on all the science theories and terms. After two hours though, Patty desperately needed a break, so told Erin she was done for the day because her brain was fried.

Almost as soon as Patty left, Erin’s forehead hit her desk again, _this is becoming a habit, isn’t it?_ she thought to herself. She jumped slightly when she heard something crunch, and as she lifted her head she was met with a smirking Holtzmann in the doorway, looking smug as always snacking on Pringles.

Erin snorted, “because who can say no to those salty parabolas, am I right?”

Holtzmann’s hand froze mid-journey to her mouth and her face broke out in a face splitting grin before she happily exclaimed, “yes, exactly!”

Shaking her head fondly, Erin could only reply, “well, are you going to share, or…?”

Holtzmann tapped her chin for a moment as if to consider it, before walking over to Erin, and offering, “you know, I don’t usually share my parabolas with anyone, this right here is a rare occasion.”

Erin laughed and kissed Holtzmann’s cheek in response, who stilled for a second, not expecting it. Even though Holtzmann quickly ducked her head a little and stood up fully again to try and hide the blush creeping up on her, Erin caught it, but decided not to comment on it – she had just shared her parabolas with her after all…

“So,” Holtzmann spoke up again after regaining a little bit composure, “I was wondering if maybe you would want to have dinner? With me? Tonight?” She was fidgeting now, growing more nervous by the minute.

Erin smirked and raised an eyebrow, “why, are you asking me out on a date, Holtzmann?”

When Holtzmann tried to laugh it off and failing miserably, ending with it sounding like a dying seal, she cleared her throat before trying again. “Well err, yes! It appears I am.”

It was Erin’s time to tap her chin for a moment, pretending to think about it. She would never admit it out loud of course, but she didn’t completely hate seeing Holtzmann nervous. It was a rare sight, and when it was because of her, Erin felt a hint of pride. She stood up and walked to stand in front of Holtzmann, “of course I’ll have dinner with you, we did just sleep together after all…”

Holtzmann’s eyes went wide, and by now her cheeks weren’t just a hint of red, no they were on fire. She ducked her head, and the only thing she could think to say was, “my palms are so sweaty.”

Erin’s eyebrows shot up, and she laughed a little, “uhm… What?”

Holtzmann let out an airy laugh and looked up again, her smile never leaving her face – a smile that made Erin’s heartrate increase. “My palms are super sweaty right now.”

Erin full on laughed then, “what? why?”

Without missing a beat, completely serious, Holtzmann replied, “because you just agreed to go on a date with me, and you’re beautiful.”

Erin immediately stopped laughing and looked at Holtzmann, seeing nothing that wasn’t completely genuine on her face. Then she did what she’d wanted to do all day, she all but leapt forward and captured Holtzmann’s lips with hers in a searing kiss. She brought her hands up to cup her face, and could feel Holtzmann’s arms sneak around her waist.

Holtzmann hadn’t expected the response she got, but she was definitely not complaining. She wound her arms around Erin’s waist and pulled her closer, sure that if she were to die today she would die happy.

The kiss was over much too soon to Holtzmann’s liking, and she whined a little as Erin pulled back. She was leaning in again, when Erin put a hand over her mouth and shushed her. Turns out Erin only broke away because Abby was yelling for them to get their butts in there. She just barely caught Holtzmann’s eye roll and said, “to be continued?”

Holtzmann grinned, “to be continued.” She quickly pecked Erin’s lips one last time before taking her hand and dragging her out to where Patty and Abby were suiting up.

“Remember than guy I told you about this morning, the one who called last night and asked us to come over? He just called again, sounded terrified.”

Holtzmann laughed, earning her a soft punch in the arm from Erin, “what?” She asked, “it’s probably nothing, people are just overly anxious or something.”

“Well, not everyone’s definition of fun is hunting down dead people who want revenge.”

Holtzmann just shrugged and went to get her gear. Sure, not everyone thought ghosts were awesome, but she still didn’t realise why they always had to be such babies about it. _It’s just a little ghost, man up._

\----------------------------------------------

They had all made it to the address Abby had gotten, though barely. Patty had spent the fifteen minutes it took them to drive there yelling at Holtzmann to drive more carefully only to be ignored. Holtzmann didn’t really see why she had to yell, they’d never actually crashed before, had they? No, exactly, so she really didn’t understand why Patty didn’t trust her driving by now. I mean, there was that one time where she just barely missed a pedestrian by mere millimetres, but it was totally not her fault. The light was green for her, that person should have just not been so impatient and walked on red.

The second they stepped out of the car, there was a man frantically talking to all of them at the same time, not making any sense at all. Abby stepped up to try and calm him down, and she was successful after a few minutes.

“Mr. Bowen, I presume?” The man only nodded his response, so Abby kept talking, “we’re gonna go in and see what we can do, okay? Just stay out here and we will be back in a bit.”

The man nodded, still terrified, and Holtzmann couldn’t help the smirk that made its way to her face. Once again, she earned a punch in the arm by Erin who caught it, and she held her hands up in surrender before making her way towards the house.

They made their way inside slowly and quietly, and it wasn’t long before the ghost appeared before them, and they all fired proton streams at it. They were all focused on the one they had under control, so none of them noticed before it was too late the other ghost sneaking up behind them.

Patty was the first to notice, and she barely had time to yell, “Holtzy, look out!” before Holtzmann was thrown across the room.

When Holtzmann didn’t get back up, Erin was about to run over to her out of pure fear, but she fought the urge to do so, knowing they had to get these bastards before it was safe to do anything else.

“Holtzmann?” She tried. Abby, Patty, and herself having almost captured one of the ghosts in the house. “Hey, Holtz,” she glanced over at where Holtzmann was lying, still no movement. “Hey, Holtz, I need you to get up, okay?”

They managed to capture one of the ghosts and were working at it with the second one. By now, Erin had tears streaming down her face, and she was glancing over to where Holtzmann was more frequently, still trying to make contact. “Holtz, I’m serious. Get up!” There was no movement, and she finally put all her effort into capturing the ghost that was responsible for the unresponsive Holtzmann on the other side of the room. Erin was furious by now, she was furious and terrified, and all she wanted to do was check on Holtzmann.

As soon as the second and final ghost was captured, Erin ran the small distance across the room to where Holtzmann still hadn’t moved. Tears were streaming down her face furiously still, and she put a hand on Holtzmann’s cheek, “Holtz?” She tried softly, “Holtz, please, just open your eyes, say something – anything!”

It took another couple of minutes of trying, but suddenly Holtzmann groaned and brought a hand up to her head. She still hadn’t opened her eyes, but she was moving and that was good enough for now. She brought a hand to her stomach next and hissed as she felt for bruises, _yep, definitely a bruise or two._

Another minute passed before Holtzmann opened her eyes, she still hadn’t said anything. When she did finally open her eyes, it took a moment for her to be able to focus and adjust to the light. She looked at Erin who weakly smiled down at her, furrowed her brows, and she silently brought a hand up to Erin’s face, wiping away her fallen tears.

“You’re crying,” was all Holtzmann said.

Erin let out a short laugh then, before nodding, “yeah, it appears I am…”

“I’m sorry.”

Erin laughed again, “ _you’re_ sorry? Holtz, _I’m_ sorry. I didn’t see that other ghost coming up behind you before you were already over here…”

Erin seemed to drift off to a different place in her mind, eyes wide and looking scared. So Holtzmann slowly sat up, bringing Erin out of wherever she’d just gone off to. She decided to change the topic, “I’m assuming you guys did fine without me and both of the ghosts were captured?”

“Yeah, Abby and Patty brought them out, we’re all good.”

“Alright, let’s get out of here then, give that big baby back his house.”

Holtzmann leaned heavily on Erin as they walked outside to find Abby and Patty arguing with some reporters who’d showed up when they had heard what was going on. Erin faltered for only a split second, but Holtzmann knew. She stopped for a moment and looked over at Erin, “they’re just a bunch of assholes. Fuck ‘em.”

Erin smiled, but Holtzmann could see it wasn’t real. They kept walking, and Holtzmann tried to lightly squeeze Erin’s shoulder in some form of reassurance, but at this point she was sure Erin was holding her up more than she was herself, so what was intended as reassurance might have not come off as anything other than Holtzmann struggling even more.

Patty saw the two of them slowly making their way towards them and figured it was time to shoo the reporters away. She nudged Abby, who glanced over to where Patty was looking, and turned back to the reporters, telling them to get lost. She then walked up to Erin and Holtzmann to help out.

“You took quite the hit back there, huh?”

Holtzmann laughed for a second but quickly regretted it as she felt an intense pain in her ribs. Before she could say anything, Abby spoke up again, “so that would probably mean you’ve got a broken rib or two, not exactly a surprise considering you were just thrown across a room and all… Let’s get you to the hospital.”

Holtzmann was about to protest, but before she could even try, Erin gave her a look that said ‘you better get your butt to that hospital, or so help me God this pain you’re feeling right now will be nothing compared to what I will do to get you there – willing or not.’ And with that Holtzmann simply nodded and got into the back of the car.

\----------------------------------------------

Erin and Holtzmann were sat in an examination room, waiting for the doctor to come back. Holtzmann had been x-rayed and examined, and the doctor had just stepped out for a minute to retrieve said x-rays.

“You know this is a complete waste of time, right?” Holtzmann said. She’d been saying this the entire car ride over here, trying to convince everyone she was fine. “I mean we just caught another two ghosts and the containment unit STILL isn’t completely good to go, this is just useless, I should be back at HQ working by now.”

At this point Erin didn’t even acknowledge it anymore.  Holtzmann could keep telling herself she was fine, but Erin had seen it, and she wasn’t completely oblivious, she noticed how Holtzmann hissed in pain when she had helped her up. Oh, and she had also practically carried her out to the car. Holtzmann might think this was a waste of time, but Erin knew better.

When Erin didn’t respond, Holtzmann just sighed excessively and she laid her head down on Erin’s shoulder. Erin spoke up then, “what are you doing?”

“I’m tired, I’m just gonna take a short nap.”

Erin practically jumped up out of her seat then, “woah, no. No, you can’t do that. The doctor explicitly told you not to fall asleep until he knew exactly what was up.”

Holtzmann rolled her eyes then, and grabbed Erin’s hands and tugged her down on her lap, “but I’m tired,” she whined.

“I don’t care, no sleep ‘til you’re officially told its okay.”

Holtzmann opened her mouth to counter argue just as the doctor walked back in, “well, you’ve got three broken ribs, and a mild concussion. I’m putting you on bedrest for a week, you need it.”

Again, Holtzmann was about to object, when Erin interrupted, “sure thing, doc! Is there anything else?”

“Not as far as I’m concerned. Just be sure she sticks with it, please. No work for a week, she can do that.”

“You know,” Holtzmann started, “I’m right here?”

The doctor looked at her then, “bedrest. One week. I’m serious, Holtzmann, one whole week of it.”

Holtzmann groaned and put her head on Erin’s shoulder. Erin looked at the doctor apologetically, and he just shook his head and told them they could go.

On their way out Holtzmann tugged on Erin’s hand, bringing them to a halt in the middle of the ER hallway. She looked down as she said, “I’m sorry.”

Erin thought she must have looked like a question mark, because before she could ask, Holtzmann continued, “I guess this means I can’t take you out tonight…”

Erin shook her head fondly, “you were just told you have three broken ribs and a concussion, yet here you are apologising to me for not being able to take me out?” She laughed lightly, “Holtzmann it’s okay, I can wait a week.”

Holtzmann nodded and they walked out of the ER. Just as they had exited the building and was walking towards Patty and Abby, Holtzmann tugged on her hand again. When she didn’t speak up, Erin looked at her to find her grinning her signature smug-ass grin.

“What?” Erin asked sceptically.

“Well, I mean… I can’t take you _out_ for dinner, but if you wanted to, you could always come to my place and we can get cheap takeout and watch some crappy movies?”

Erin smiled then, “that sounds great, yes.”

With a smile now planted firmly on Holtzmann’s face, they finally made their way to Patty and Abby who were happy to hear Holtzmann was fine. As they drove towards Holtzmann’s apartment, she couldn’t help but think maybe it was possible to save the night after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the 2.5 week wait, as I mentioned last time it is exams time for me at the moment, but soon.  
> Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this, and as always if you have any sugestions, comments or nice things to say, feel free to drop a comment below they do really mean the world to me. 
> 
> 'til next time (~˘▾˘)~


	3. Because it's Perfectly You

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Holtzmann bowed slightly and gestured for Erin to enter the small apartment that was just around the corner from the firehouse.

Erin walked inside slightly cautiously, and as she looked around she saw shelves filled with books and articles, DVD’s, and all kinds of scrap metal. _Of course,_ she thought to herself, _I say scrap metal, but Holtzmann could probably do something completely amazing with it all._ She smiled to herself as she walked in further and looked around more. The apartment wasn’t particularly fancy or pretty – in fact, Erin was almost entirely sure it could be classified as slightly shabby – but it was so very Holtzmann, and it was perfect.

Turning to face Holtzmann again, Erin smiled and said, “this is great, Holtz.”

Holtzmann’s previously slightly nervous face lit up and her mouth broke out in a face splitting grin, “really? You like it? I know it’s not much and it’s not in great shape – not to mention the current messy state – but I guess I like it.”

“It’s perfectly you. And you are great, so therefore this apartment is great.”

Holtzmann felt a blush creeping up on her, so she decided to dip her head a little and inspect her suddenly very interesting shoes.

Erin could see Holtzmann’s cheeks turn red from the compliment, but she decided not to comment. Instead, she settled for smiling fondly as she looked at a shy Holtzmann – after all, it was a rare sight.

“So,” it was Holtzmann who first broke the silence after a moment, “any current cravings?”

“Pizza!” Erin all but yelled out her answer at what could be considered a little bit too fast, causing her to backtrack a little. “I mean, uhh, pizza maybe? But it’s whatever, it’s not a big deal or anything, we can eat whatever.” Erin waved her hand around and shrugged while talking, as if trying to make it seems like she didn’t really care all that much.

Holtzmann laughed a little as she stepped up beside Erin, exclaiming, “pizza it is!” Before quickly pecking Erin’s cheek and starting the search for some takeaway menus.

Erin couldn’t help the smile that made its way to her face, and instead of shying away from it, she simply shook her head lightly and followed Holtzmann.

\----------------------------------------------

After having finally decided on toppings and actually ordered the pizza, they had just received it and were now sat on the couch watching a movie and eating.

“This pizza,” Holtzmann started, “this pizza might just be the best pizza I have ever eaten.” She took another way too big bite just then, and sighed happily, not having a care in the world that very moment.

Erin snorted and briefly considered bringing up the chewing issue they talked about last night, but thought it best not to ruin this moment. After all, it was pretty great, and she was right there to oversee the situation. With that in mind, she figured she could let it go for tonight, as she took a way too big bite herself – bigger than she had originally intended.

Just as Erin did take the bite Holtzmann looked over at her and her eyebrows shot up immediately. She was sat simply staring at Erin for a few seconds, until she could see Erin was clearly having some issues chewing her food, at which point she just broke out laughing and finding this whole situation hilarious.

Eventually, Erin managed to finish the bite she’d taken, and after downing some much needed water, she simply looked at Holtzmann and pouted.

Holtzmann threw her hands up then, “hey, don’t look at me like that! You did that to yourself, and it was hilarious.”

Leaning over, Erin lightly punched Holtzmann’s arm, “you’re such a jerk…” She pouted slightly and took another, much smaller, bite this time.

Holtzmann couldn’t help but let out a small laugh once again, but noticing the look Erin was giving her, she stopped immediately. “Sorry, sorry, I’m done. Are you okay?”

“No,” Erin said in a voice resembling that of a pouty six year olds.

“Aww, I’m sorry, is there anything I can do to make it better?”

“Hmmm,” Erin took a moment to really think about it. After a couple minutes, Holtzmann had gone back to eating and she had just started paying attention to the movie again when Erin spoke up, “I’ll take a rain check.”

“What?”

Erin rolled her eyes, but smiled none the less, “if you can make this better? I’ll take a rain check, you owe me.”

Only half paying attention and mostly being into the movie, Holtzmann nodded, “Rain check, okay, gotcha!”

Satisfied enough, Erin grabbed another slice of pizza and leaned back into the couch, planning on paying attention to the movie too.

\----------------------------------------------

All it took was twenty minutes and Erin was already bored with the movie playing. She didn’t pay attention in the beginning either, so she had no idea what the movie was even about.

When Erin sighed for the 7th consecutive time in less than five minutes, Holtzmann couldn’t stop the small laugh that fell from her lips. When Erin looked over to her with furrowed brows, she reached for her to scoot closer. Erin obliged and snuggled into Holtzmann’s side, sighing once again. It was a different sigh this time though, and it made Holtzmann’s smile grow wider. While the previous sighs had been exaggerated and ones of boredom, this sigh was one of contentment, and it made Holtzmann inexplicably happy. She dropped a kiss to Erin’s forehead that rested on her shoulder and turned her attention back to the screen.

\----------------------------------------------

The movie ended sometime later, and when Erin didn’t move Holtzmann gently lifted her head to look at her face. Erin was fast asleep, and Holtzmann briefly considered not doing anything, figuring she could deal with being in this exact position all night – Erin curled up to her side with an arm draped across her stomach. However, the longer she thought about it the clearer it became that the best thing to do was probably to not spend all night in a slightly awkward position on a not exactly super comfortable couch.

She gently brought a hand up to comb through Erin’s hair, causing Erin to stir slightly and snuggle up closer to Holtzmann. Holtzmann smiled to herself then, before softly speaking, “hey, Erin, wake up.”

Erin let out a groan and shook her head.

“Your back and neck are gonna hurt tomorrow if we don’t move, so we should probably move.”

Erin reluctantly opened an eye and stretched as she stood up. She looked down to where Holtzmann was still seated on the couch, she raised an eyebrow and put out her hand, “well let’s go to bed then?”

Taking the hand offered to her, Holtzmann let herself be dragged towards the bedroom where she gently pulled on the hand in hers, bringing them both to a stop. “I’ve got some shirts if you wanna borrow one? I don’t know about you, but I usually prefer not to sleep in jeans and all that.” She tried to laugh to take some of the tension away, but it was a more awkward laugh than she had initially hoped it would be, so she didn’t know how much it actually helped.

Erin, however, didn’t give it much thought, seeing as she was still more or less half asleep. She smiled sheepishly and accepted a shirt that was handed to her, putting it on without much thought. However, seeing the grin that took over Holtzmann’s face when she walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom after having changed, she had to ask.

“What…?”

Walking up to Erin, Holtzmann wound her arms around Erin’s waist and placed a soft kiss to her lips. “You just look really good is all,” she finally answered.

Erin blushed and dragged Holtzmann over to the bed. As they laid down, Erin, once again, snuggled up closer to Holtzmann.

Holtzmann’s cheeks hurt from all the smiling she’d been doing all night, but that didn’t stop her from smiling a little wider when Erin placed a kiss to her jaw and sleepily said, “Goodnight, Holtzmann.”

“Goodnight, Erin.”

\----------------------------------------------

Erin woke up the next morning to someone trailing their fingers through her hair, and before she could stop it, she smiled widely and snuggled further into the nook of Holtzmann’s neck. Before she could think clearly, she tightened the hold she had around Holtzmann’s waist, only to hear Holtzmann hiss in pain.

She shot up and backed away from Holtzmann, “oh my gosh, Holtz, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking, I completely forgot, I didn’t mean to hurt you – I would never. Oh God, are you okay? I’m sorry!”

“Erin. It’s okay, I’m fine. Just wasn’t prepared is all! It’s completely fine, I’m okay.” Holtzmann reached for Erin’s hands, “c’mere.” Seeing the doubt in Erin’s eyes, Holtzmann sat up further and took Erin’s hands in her own, tugging her back to her. “See? I’m completely okay.”

Reluctantly, Erin nodded and placed her head back on Holtzmann’s shoulder. She looked over to the clock on the nightstand, “11:40?! It’s freaking 11:40?!” She was out of bed by now, pacing the room, “oh no. Nonono, I was supposed to be at work hours ago!”

Holtzmann sat up and leaned back against the headboard, “I’m sure it’s okay, they would have called if they needed you.” Erin didn’t seem to acknowledge this, she simply kept pacing, so Holtzmann tried again, “plus, you can’t just leave me here, I’ll go mad!”

Erin smiled then and stopped, she climbed back onto the bed and sat down in front of Holtzmann. “One of us probably should go to work today though… And seeing as you’re on bedrest for a week, it seems I’m the lucky winner!” When Holtzmann only pouted, Erin leaned over and planted a firm kiss to her lips. “And,” she drawled out as she pulled back, “I suppose if you really feel like you _have_ to work today, I’ll call you later today and you can work through me. Just tell me exactly what to do and I’ll do it for you.”

Holtzmann was a little shocked at the suggestion. It was brilliant and all, she knew that, but she was surprised Erin had suggested it, she had never before thought anyone would do anything like that. Sure, it didn’t seem like a huge deal, but Holtzmann took her work very seriously – not to mention her biggest worry from yesterday, they had captured two new entities and they still didn’t have a safe containment unit to put them in. Most people seemed to think Holtzmann exaggerated when it came to her dedication to her work, but here Erin was, offering to do the work for her so that Holtzmann could heal up like the doctor had ordered.

A little flustered still, Holtzmann managed to answer, “I- uhh- thank you, yes! That’s brilliant! Erin. I don’t know if anyone has ever told you, but you are completely amazing.”

Shrugging, Erin replied, “oh, I’ve been told once or twice.”

Erin proceeded to get out of bed to get changed and ready to leave. It was only when she finally looked in the mirror that she noticed the shirt she was wearing, the one Holtzmann had given her the previous night. She rolled her eyes and walked back out to where Holtzmann was sitting in bed.

“Really, Holtz?” Erin asked with a raised eyebrow, “this is why you were grinning last night, isn’t it?”

Holtzmann looked confused for a moment before she looked down to the t-shirt Erin was wearing. A smile spread across her face once again as she looked at the ghost on it, it was a black t-shirt with the Ghostbusters logo printed on it. She met Erin’s gaze once again and shrugged, “it may have factored in I suppose.”

“You’re such an ass.”

As Erin walked back into the bathroom, Holtzmann was left behind laughing herself silly, yelling after her, “come on, I’m kidding!”

A short while later, when Erin walked back into the bedroom with a different shirt on, Holtzmann managed to grab her hand as she passed her, “hey. I was trying to be funny. And I really wasn’t kidding when I said you looked good – you always look good! And although I didn’t think it was possible, you may even have made that t-shirt look better than I ever could.” That earned her a light punch in the arm once again, _that’s becoming a habit, isn’t it?_ Holtzmann thought to herself. But Erin was also smiling, so there was no harm done. “Really, though. Erin, you are so beautiful, no matter what you wear.”

“Well,” Erin started, “thank you.”

Holtzmann kissed her cheek and grinned, “have a good day at work. Call me later, please?”

Erin smiled, “of course.”

And with that, Erin was out the door and headed for the Ghostbusters HQ, leaving Holtzmann behind with nothing to do.

“Now what?” She asked herself as she let herself fall back on the mattress.

\----------------------------------------------

It was around 3:30 when Erin finally had a chance to call Holtzmann. She’d spent the previous two hours with Patty, and their short lesson hadn’t gone much better than the previous day. Patty, as always, had been patient and interested, generally trying her best to keep up. Erin, on the other hand, had grown increasingly frustrated with her growing inability to teach Patty more about her area of expertise, and had eventually sighed so loudly that Patty thought it best to let it go for today.

Holtzmann had, more or less the moment Erin left, gotten bored with simply lying in bed. She’d decided she was in a good enough shape to do something small. Well, something small-ish. She had an idea regarding some improvements to all of their proton packs, and not being able to work with the real deal had not stopped her. Holtzmann had made her way to the hardware store to pick up a few things she was going to need to build the part she had in mind, and by the time Erin called her she was slightly distracted with her new toy, something Erin would never miss.

“Hello?” Holtzmann picked up the phone without giving it much thought.

“Holtzmann, come on!” Erin whined immediately, “why are you not in bed right now?”

Holtzmann immediately stopped what she was doing at the sound of Erin’s voice and cursed herself for not paying more attention before answering the phone. “Uhm… I was just- because- well I just had- I mean...” She was struggling to get out of this one alive.  “Erin,” she started, “there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. I had a brilliant idea and I was afraid I’d forget if I didn’t set to work immediately, so naturally I did.”

Erin rolled her eyes, “Holtz. You never forget a brilliant idea.”

“Okay, alright, fair enough. But! It’s just this little thing! Here, I’ll show you, switch to facetime.”

Erin did as she was told, and Holtzmann showed her what to Erin just looked like a very messy table.

Turning the camera around a moment later so Erin could see Holtzmann again, they both smiled for a second before Holtzmann kept going. “So as you can see, this is just some simple engineering going on, nothing nuclear even! Perfectly safe, and perfectly small.”  

“But you’re missing the point! The doctor explicitly told you to stay in bed for a week – no work!”

Holtzmann sighed, “okay, I am seeing your point, but your tone is unwelcome.”

Erin raised an eyebrow then, and in a monotone voice asked “’my _tone_ is unwelcome’?”

Holtzmann gave a short nod, “yes, your tone is unwelcome.”

They looked at each other for a moment before they both broke out laughing. They both knew Erin wasn’t really all that mad at Holtzmann, she understood. She didn’t like that Holtzmann had gone against everything her doctor had told her, and she didn’t like that she was up and around working and everything, but she knew Holtzmann could sit still for approximately three seconds before she needed to move around. Although Erin was still worried Holtzmann was only making things worse by defying the doctors orders, she understood.

“Erin, I’m sorry,” Holtzmann said. “I know I’m supposed to stay in bed, but you know how restless I get! And you were gone, and I just needed to do something. But I’m completely fine, I promise you.”

Sighing, she replied, “I know. And it’s okay. But just, please, now that we’re talking and I can do whatever it is you are trying to do for you, will you please get back to bed and rest?”

Holtzmann grinned as she stood up, before abruptly stopping and furrowing her brows again. Looking at Erin, she asked, “wait. How did you even know I was working?”

Erin laughed then, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” When Holtzmann didn’t say anything, but instead just kept looking at her with hopeful eyes and dimples on full display, Erin continued. “I knew, because if you weren’t busy with work or anything you wouldn’t answer the phone with a questioned and uninterested ‘hello’. I think… It was mostly based on intuition, suppose I got lucky!”

Holtzmann nodded in agreement, “huh, I guess you know me pretty well then!”

Erin shrugged, “I guess so! Now let’s get to work, I don’t want to be here all night unless I have to.”

\----------------------------------------------

Somewhere around four hours had passed, and Erin was getting tired. At this point she’d stopped paying attention to what Holtzmann was trying to explain, and she was just sat tightening and loosening the same screw, tired and relatively done with work for the day.

“Hey Erin!” Holtzmann brought Erin back from her thoughts, and a wicked grin made its way to her face when she saw she’d gotten Erin’s attention. Before Erin could ask, however, Holtzmann said, “are you even listening to me anymore? Stop screwing around!”

Erin knew she shouldn’t be taken aback by the joke, she had it coming. Still, she opened and closed her mouth a few times, at a total loss for words. That was, until she remembered something, and smiled at Holtzmann again. “Hey Holtzmann - screw you!”

Holtzmann’s smile grew wide enough to split her face right in two, “did you just pun?”

When Erin only shrugged din response, Holtzmann kept going, “I love it when you loosen up. It drives me crazy.”

“Woah,” Erin was laughing now, “two in one, huh? Better take it easy, wouldn’t want to go nuts!”

“Oh my God, you _are_ punning!” Holtzmann was overjoyed, “this is fantastic, I could kiss you!”

Erin’s laughter died down a little, “I could kiss you too.”

“You should come over.”

Raising an eyebrow, Erin said, “oh really?”

Holtzmann nodded, “really. You should sleep over too, so I can hold you and kiss you and protect you from the boogeyman.”

“You’d protect me from the boogeyman?”

“I’ll protect you from all the scary monsters that lurk around in the night, I promise to keep you safe if you’ll let me.”

Ering was weirdly flattered, she thought, by Holtzmann’s promise. She smiled and said, “okay.”

“Okay?” Holtzmann asked hopefully.

“Okay. If you’re absolutely sure you want me to, then I’ll sleep over.”

Nodding furiously, Holtzmann answered, “yes! Yes, I am as sure as ever, get your cute little butt over here.”

Erin laughed at the enthusiasm and started to pack up her things, _I don’t know if anyone has ever seemed_ that _enthusiastic about me agreeing to come to them,_ she thought. Although Erin had been in her fair share of relationships, she couldn’t think of a single person who’d made her feel the way Holtzmann did. It was a nice change, and Erin knew, and accepted by now, that with every passing minute she was falling harder for Holtzmann. And even though it did scare Erin a little, she didn’t mind one bit.

\----------------------------------------------

The two had hung up when they agreed Erin would get there quicker if they did, and as Erin, ten minutes later, was stood outside Holtzmann’s door, she knew they were right. She knocked on the door, and almost as soon as she did Holtzmann flung the door open and pulled Erin into a searing kiss.

Erin dropped the stack of papers she was holding in favor of bringing her arms around Holtzmann’s neck, and as she melted into the kiss, she knew Holtzmann really did want her there, and she’d made the right decision in coming.

When they broke apart a few moments later, foreheads resting on the other’s, Holtzmann glanced down and caught sight of the mess of papers now on the floor all around them. She let out a laugh and kissed Erin’s cheek before bending down to pick it all up. It only took a moment, and as soon as she was done, she closed the door behind Erin, and lead her into the bedroom where she practically hopped back into bed.

“You can just grab whatever shirt from over there,” Holtzmann said, vaguely pointing to one of the drawers in a dresser across the room.

Erin, however, made her way to the bathroom without stopping by the dresser, having a feeling the shirt she worse the night before would be exactly where she left it. She was right, the shirt was exactly where she’d left it, so she undressed and pulled it over her head before making her way back into the bedroom, too exhausted after a long day to complete some long, and quite frankly kind of unnecessary, routine.

“Before you say anything,” she started when she saw Holtzmann’s smirk, “this shirt happened to be very soft and comfortable, and that is why I am still wearing it. I still think it’s ridiculous.”

Holtzmann raised her hands and looked as innocent as ever, “hey, I didn’t say anything. I think you look great.”

Erin mumbled a “yeah yeah” in response before crawling into bed and being pulled into Holtzmann’s side by her. She sighed and said, “I missed you today. I know I only just saw you this morning, but work without you is kind of a drag actually.”

Holtzmann placed a kiss to her temple before simply saying, “I know.”

A few moments later, Holtzmann lifted her head slightly and saw Erin was fast asleep. Smiling, she tightened her hold on Erin slightly, before whispering, “goodnight, Erin.” And within minutes, Holtzmann was fast asleep herself.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, apologies for the extremely long wait between chapters. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed that, and that you all had a good Christmas! And happy new year!  
> As always, do feel free to drop a comment below or find me on tumblr, and thank you for reading!


	4. Because You Make Me Happy

When Holtzmann woke up the next morning, she smiled into her pillow feeling as happy as ever at the thought of Erin sleeping peacefully next to her. She’d seen Erin go from being a tightly wound, tweed-wearing, college professor with accessories like the world’s tiniest bowtie (that came with the shirt), to becoming this seemingly comfortable Erin. To becoming a jeans and hoodie wearing shameless science nerd. And Holtzmann, who’d liked Erin even before all of that, had over time come to realize that she was completely done for. 

She turned around, about to snuggle up to Erin, only to find that side of the bed empty. She frowned and opened her eyes, taking a second to blink the sleep out of them. Eventually sitting up, she looked around the room and sure enough, Erin was nowhere to be found. She was about to call out her name, but as if on cue Holtzmann barely had the chance to open her mouth before hearing a pan being dropped to the floor followed by a few selected expletives. A grin took over Holtzmann’s face, and she jumped out of bed making her way towards the kitchen.

Erin had gotten up around fifteen minutes earlier, after having stared at a sleeping Holtzmann for what she considered just the right amount. She got up with one goal, and that was to make Holtzmann breakfast in bed. She’d gotten out of bed quietly and made for the dresser across the room with hopes of finding some fuzzy socks, something she did eventually find after some rummaging. She smiled, pleased with herself for having gotten that far without waking up Holtzmann, and made her way towards the kitchen.

After having taken the liberty to look through Holtzmann’s fridge, she had eventually found a few things that were close enough to breakfast that it could work. So she cracked up a few eggs and got started, but of course not before dropping a pan and making the loudest bang of the century. She cringed as it hit the floor, but hurried to pick it back up and continue her cooking, effectively pretending it never happened. Somewhere along the way she had turned on a radio that was sitting on the kitchen table and started singing with it.

That is how Holtzmann found her – cooking up something delicious smelling in a t-shirt and fuzzy socks, singing lightly to the radio. The grin on her face spread impossibly wider as she stalked up behind Erin, wrapping her arms around the other woman while giving her cheek a quick kiss before resting on her shoulder.

“Damn, Dr. Gilbert, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were trying to kill me!” Erin laughed a little then, “you look absolutely fantastic,” Holtzmann finished.

Turning her head slightly to look at Holtzmann for a second, she answered, “good morning to you too.”

Holtzmann took the opportunity to capture Erin’s lips with her own, and Erin had no choice but to turn around in Holtzmann’s arms, sighing happily into the kiss.

When they broke apart a moment later they grinned at one another, and Erin turned back around to make sure their eggs weren’t burning.

“So,” Holtzmann began, “what is this egg-squisite looking thing you’re cooking up?”

Erin rolled her eyes at the pun, but she had prepared for this. She feigned a laugh, “oh Holtz, you just crack me up!”

Holtzmann was completely and visibly taken aback by the quick response, and Erin couldn’t help but laugh a little at Holtzmann’s expression. She divided the scrambled eggs between two plates that already had pieces of toast on them before turning around to face Holtzmann properly. She pecked her cheek before taking the two plates over to the table.

Holtzmann shook her head, _it’s too early for this_ , and made her way over to the table where Erin was already sitting. Holtzmann took a seat next to her instead of across from her where Erin had set Holtzmann’s place. She only shrugged when Erin gave her a funny look and grabbed the plate from the other side of the table and started eating.

About halfway through eating in silence, Holtzmann switched to eating left-handed so she could grab a hold of Erin’s free left hand. When Erin intertwined their fingers Holtzmann didn’t look up, but Erin could see the smile spreading across her face and a light red coloring her cheeks. She smiled herself and went back to eating her food.

\----------------------------------------------

“Erin!” Holtzmann yelled. They’d finished eating, but were still sat at the table, Erin reading a recently published peer-reviewed paper, and Holtzmann reading the newspaper.

Erin winced, “god, Holtz, I’m right here! Literally right in front of you, no need to yell.”

Holtzmann smiled sheepishly, “sorry, but we have to go to the aquarium.”

When Erin only raised her eyebrows in question, Holtzmann continued. “Yeah, they’ve got a new tank, we have to go check it out!”

Erin blinked a couple times – was she getting this right? “The aquarium got a new tank? Holtz, what in the world-“

“Yes!” Holtzmann interrupted, “the aquarium downtown got a new tank, so we gotta go.” She was already out of her chair and by Erin’s side with a hand stretched out, “come on, lets go!”

Taking a moment to look at her, Erin squinted slightly, “are you messing with me?”

It was Holtzmann’s turn to furrow her brows then, “what, no? I just really want to go see it and I’d love if you wanted to come with me…?”

Erin could see nothing but genuine excitement on Holtzmann’s face, so she simply smiled, “sure, Holtz. I’d love to go with you to check out the new tank.”

Holtzmann’s face filled with excitement, but only for a moment before Erin spoke up again, “but! Holtz you’re technically still on bedrest for a few days.”

Holtzmann’s face fell and Erin could feel her heart breaking, “but- but it’s- but what about- what?,” Holtzmann stuttered a little bit in the midst of her newfound sadness, trying to come up with a convincing argument.

Erin sighed, “I’m sorry, but I just don’t know if it’s a great idea to go out and everything when the doctor more or less ordered you to stay in bed…”

“But it’s the aquarium, it’s not like I’ll be lifting heavy stuff or anything, and I feel completely fine!”

Erin was still not sure, and her uncertainness definitely showed on her face. So Holtzmann continued, “Erin. I promise you that if I start to feel bad or the pain comes back or anything I will let you know and we can leave right away.”

Erin met her eyes then, “you really want to go, don’t you?”

Holtzmann smiled and sighed, “yes. I really want to go. But I want to go with you, and if you really don’t want me to go then I won’t.”

Erin sighed internally and thought about it for a moment before looking back up at Holtzmann, “you promise to tell me the second something feels off or it’s just too much?”

“Yes, I swear.”

Erin nodded, “alright then.”

Holtzmann’s face filled with excitement as a face splitting grin took over, and she dragged Erin out of her chair and into a hug. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

Erin laughed but hugged her back regardless, before Holtzmann pulled back and grabbed her hand, leading her back towards the bedroom so they could both get dressed.

“Uhm, Holtz?” Erin said a little shyly after having put on her jeans.

Holtzmann turned around then from where she was going through her closet, “huh?”

Erin held up the top she’d been wearing the day before, “I don’t really want to wear what I wore yesterday, could we just make a quick stop at my place so I could get changed?”

Holtzmann nodded, “sure,” before going back to finding herself an outfit.

A minute or so later she turned back to Erin with a smirk, and before Erin could ask Holtzmann had made her way over to where Erin was sitting on the bed. “Or,” she drawled out, “you could always just wear something of mine if you wanted.” She leaned down to kiss Erin deeply.

Erin melted into the kiss immediately and brought her arms up around Holtzmann’s neck to pull her down to her further. Holtzmann smiled into the kiss and placed herself on Erin’s lap. She cupped Erin’s face gently and deepened the kiss, bringing forth what sounded a lot like a moan from Erin. Erin let her hands run down Holtzmann’s back to where she lifted her shirt just enough to place her hands on Holtzmann’s lower back. Holtzmann gasped at the contact and leaned further into Erin.

Their make out session lasted longer than either of them had initially meant for it to, and when they finally broke apart long enough to actually look at each other they were both grinning. Erin started laughing a little, putting her forehead on Holtzmann’s shoulder.

“That was nice,” Erin eventually said, lifting her head from where it had been resting on Holtzmann’s shoulder. “Like really nice.”

Holtzmann let out a laugh, “yeah it was.” She pecked Erin’s lips before getting off her lap, “so, about those clothes. I’ve got a couple flannels if you wanna just grab something of mine?”

Now that Holtzmann was standing with her back to her, Erin didn’t even try to hold back the smile that spread across her face anymore. “Sure,” she said, “sounds good.”

A moment later, Holtzmann threw a red and black plaid flannel towards Erin, who caught it (to both of their surprise). Erin then considered for a moment whether to change in the bathroom or not, but she eventually just sighed and settled on turning her back to Holtzmann. She pulled the ghostbusters T-shirt she’d been wearing over her head and put on the shirt Holtzmann had thrown at her. She turned back around while buttoning it up, to where Holtzmann was standing with a slack jaw and wide lustful eyes. Erin was, of course, oblivious to this.

Erin had only managed to button up one of the buttons when Holtzmann was suddenly right in front of her, hands on Erin’s to stop her from doing anything. Lifting her eyes to meet Holtzmann’s, she blushed at the sight of lust filled eyes and a sweet smile. Holtzmann lifted her eyebrows in a silent question, and Erin let her hands drop to her side. She smiled at Holtzmann’s concentration face as she slowly but surely made her way up, button by button, until she neared the top where she left a couple buttons open.

“There,” she said as she lifted her head back up and placed her hands on Erin’s hips. “Perfect,” she leaned in to give Erin a quick kiss, to have Erin pull back slightly and put a finger to Holtzmann’s now pouty lips.

Erin laughed at Holtzmann’s whine, “hey. Don’t look at me like that, you were the one who wanted to go to the aquarium and if that’s gonna happen we can’t spend all day making out.”

Holtzmann sighed, “I know, I know… But you look so good right now, I can’t help it!”

Erin laughed and pushed lightly on Holtzmann’s shoulder to turn her around, “go on, get dressed so we can get going!”

Holtzmann groaned, but quickly made her way over to where she’d laid out her outfit, a crop top and overalls – Holtzmann’s favorite outfit. She changed faster than Erin thought was possible, and was back in front of her before she was prepared and able to stop the searing kiss that followed - not that she regretted it.

“Okay,” Holtzmann said as she pulled back and grinned, “now we can go.”

\----------------------------------------------

As they walked through the door to the aquarium entrance Holtzmann was immediately greeted by some guy waving at them from the front desk.

“Hey! Holtzmann, what’s up?”

Holtzmann smiled and waved, leading the way over to him “hey, Dave! How’s Linda, she giving you any trouble?”

The man, Dave, laughed and shook his head then, “no trouble, she’s as brilliant as ever.” 

Holtzmann nodded and looked over to Erin who was currently smirking with a raised eyebrow, “so,” Erin started. “Come here often?”

Holtzmann’s jaw dropped for only a second before she narrowed her eyes at Erin, “no, okay, just no. You don’t get to steal my line, that’s not okay!”

Erin shrugged, “oh sure I do, you’re mine now, so you won’t need that line anymore.” She smiled and kissed Holtzmann’s cheek.

Holtzmann grinned at her, and they were stood looking into each other’s eyes until Dave cleared his throat bringing them out of whatever it was they were in. Holtzmann was quicker than Erin to recover, resting a hand on Erin’s lower back and turning back towards Dave, still smiling.

“Dave, this is Erin.” She looked back to Erin for a second, “Erin, this is Dave, my aquarium buddy.”

Erin shook her head fondly at Holtzmann, _of course she would have an aquarium buddy,_ before turning back to Dave. “Hi,” she extended her arm and smiled, “nice to meet you Dave.”

“Likewise,” Dave shook her hand and turned back to Holtzmann, “so, two passes then…?”

Holtzmann grinned, “yes, please.”

Dave turned around to retrieve two day passes, and Holtzmann took the opportunity to kiss Erin’s cheek.

Erin laughed, not just because of the kiss but because of the excitement and pure joy that hadn’t left Holtzmann’s face since she had agreed to come to the Aquarium. Erin didn’t have time to respond in any way before Dave was back and he and Holtzmann were having a conversation about the new tank. Erin was stood smiling, looking at Holtzmann fondly and thinking she was very lucky. Granted they hadn’t really been together very long, come to think of it they hadn’t been together even a week, yet here Erin was. Unable to take her eyes off Holtzmann, sure everyone else in the room could see she was looking at her like she was the entire universe wrapped up in one person, convinced she was the very definition of perfection.

“Erin!”

Holtzmann eventually brought Erin out of her thoughts and staring, and she shook her head lightly., “huh?”

Holtzmann laughed and shook her head, it had taken four tires to get Erin’s attention. Erin didn’t need to know that though, “come one, let’s go look at some fish!”

Erin turned towards Dave again as she was pulled towards the first room, “see you later Dave!”

\----------------------------------------------

After having walked through the entire aquarium, looking at all kinds of fishes, and stopping at the petting tank for a good half hour so that Holtzmann could pet Linda – apparently Linda wasn’t a person but a stingray and Holtzmann’s favorite part of the whole aquarium. When asked why a stingray, of all fish, were Holtzmann’s favorite she had simply said “because they’re basically sharks, Erin, duh. Except less aggressive… And Linda here, always seems to place herself right in front of me when I’m here!” Erin had initially found the whole thing ridiculous, but sure enough the stingray did place itself in front of them, and it did stay there for the whole time the two were there. She also found out it was Holtzmann who’d named Linda, and that she had an annual membership at the aquarium because it had somehow become where she spent most of her weekends.

They were now sat in the middle of a room where the entrance and exit were the only parts of the room not part of a tank, looking at the sea life surrounding them. Erin was feeling surprisingly at peace and happy, completely content looking at fish all day with Holtzmann. Seeing Holtzmann’s excitement and non-stop smiling all day had definitely made Erin happy, and she was convinced she would do anything to make that smile appear on Holtzmann’s face every day.

“Hey Erin, look at that one!” Holtzmann said and broke Erin’s train of thought.

Laughing lightly Erin answered, “Holtz, there are probably upwards of a hundred fish in here, you’re going to have to be a little bit more specific.”

Holtzmann rolled her eyes and pointed, “that one, right there.”

Erin followed where Holtzmann was pointing with her eyes and ended up on an incredibly dull-looking grey thing, “the boring one?”

Holtzmann nodded, “that’s you.”

“Holtz!” Erin lightly slapped Holtzmann’s arm, “you’re such a jerk.”

Holtzmann laughed, “I know.”

Pouting, Erin said, “I’m not THAT boring though… Right?”

“No, you’re not that boring.”

“But I’m boring?”

Holtzmann nodded again, “oh yes, definitely boring.”

Erin was about to say something when Holtzmann continued, “but! It doesn’t really matter because I like you anyway, and I think you’re the perfect amount of fun.” She pecked Erin’s lips then and stood from the bench they had been sitting on, offering a hand to Erin.

Erin took the outstretched hand stood as well, but when Holtzmann started to walk, Erin tugged on her hand to bring her to a halt. Before Holtzmann could ask any questions, Erin’s lips were on hers and they were full on making out in her favorite place and Holtzmann was sure then, that this is how she would die - the happiest she’d ever been.

When Erin pulled back a moment later, arms still resting around Holtzmann’s neck, and Holtzmann grinning wider than ever, she couldn’t help but smile a little herself.

“Stop it,” Erin said.

“Can’t,” she answered, “you just make me really happy and I just want to smile like this all the time when I’m around you.”

Erin’s eyes fell to the ground. She wasn’t very good at taking compliments, but she knew exactly what Holtzmann was talking about. She looked up again, still smiling shyly, “I know exactly what you mean.”

“When you first walked into Abby’s lab at Higgins, butterflies went crazy in my stomach. And then over time they evolved and became like highly caffeinated and capable of setting off little explosions,” she laughed a little, and Erin laughed too.

“Ahh yes, you were ‘one hundred percent _jazzed_ to meet me’.”

“I was, yes,” Holtzmann agreed, “I really was…”

“And I was positively terrified!”

Holtzmann laughed and kissed her sweetly, “that you were. I don’t really know why though, I did say the CERN dude woke up.”

“Yes, but sweetie, you also said he screamed and went back into a coma. How was I supposed to react?”

“Fair enough,” Holtzmann sighed, “I’m just very glad you didn’t run.”

Erin smiled, “me too.”

Holtzmann looked at her for a moment longer before blurting out, “Erinwillyoubemygilrfriend?”

“I mean,” Erin started, “do you promise not to put me in a coma?”

When Holtzmann grinned and nodded, Erin nodded once, “then yes.”

Holtzmann kissed her briefly and spun her around once, making Erin squeal as she was not prepared for that, “brilliant!”

They headed for the exit, as they had originally planned to do before Erin had stopped them, and Erin mumbled under her breath, “I kinda already thought we were together…”

“Oh we were, I just wanted it to be super official,” Holtzmann said, and Erin realised she’d said it out loud. She didn’t have time to start worrying about it before Holtzmann lightly squeezed her hand, making all the worries Erin were about to start mulling over disappear.

They made their way toward the exit, and as they were walking out hand in hand, impossibly happier than when they walked into the aquarium that morning, they both felt like everything was perfect.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: alittlelamppost
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading, and as always feel very free to leave a comment below, I really do appreaciate it!


	5. Because it's my Mission

It had been three weeks since their trip to the aquarium. Holtzmann was off bedrest, and back at the firehouse working on new weapons for the ghostbusters, while Erin, Abby, and Patty spent most of their time working on a revised and up-to-date version of _Ghosts from Our Past Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal_. Erin and Patty had completely given up the tutoring after about a week as every single lesson ended poorly, something that had made Erin seriously question how she came so close to getting tenure at Columbia. Regardless, over the past three weeks it was the little things that had started to change. For instance, every morning Holtzmann brought Erin her coffee (one cream, something Holtzmann had learned very early on that Erin didn’t dare ask about), earning herself a kiss. Every day around lunch time Erin would drag Holtzmann away from her desk to make sure she eats something more substantial than Pringles, and when the day came towards an end, more often than not, they would go home together after one night having agreed that waking up without the other did not make for great mornings. All in all, things were good between the two, they had gotten used to a certain routine almost, and they were happy.

It was now Friday, and the Ghostbusters had decided to call it a day early, as nothing had come in all day and they were all eager to just go home for the night. Erin had said goodbye to Abby and Patty downstairs, and was now headed up the stairs to get Holtzmann, prepared to have to drag her out of the firehouse with her.

“Holtz, I swear to God if you’re not ready to go I’m leaving without you,” was said as she neared the top of the stairs. What she met when she finally reached the top of the stairs, however, was not what she was expecting. Holtzmann was pacing the floor back and forth, and she seemed oblivious to Erin having entered the room. With furrowed brows Erin moved closer to Holtzmann, starting to worry something serious was up.

Just as Erin was about to speak up and put a hand on her shoulder, Holtzmann abruptly turned while yelling, “ERIN!” Effectively bumping right into her.

“Yes! God, I’m right there, you don’t have to shout. Please.”

“Sorry,” Holtzmann said, smiling sheepishly. “But! Now that I’ve got you here, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

When Holtzmann didn’t say anything else but just looked at Erin expectedly, Erin raised her eyebrows and motioned for her to continue.

“Okay, so, okay. Uhm, so I’ve kind of sort of in a way been meaning to ask if you’d come to dinner with me?”

Erin sighed, “Holtz, we have dinner together practically every night?”

“Yeah, no, I know that, I just meant like, go out to dinner? With me? Tonight…”

“Oh,” Erin started, and before she could continue Holtzmann interrupted her.

“I know it’s maybe a short warning, but I’ve just chickened out every day this week when I was planning on asking, or Abby has been there, or Patty – mostly Patty actually, that woman is everywhere sometimes – and then today when I woke up I realized it was Friday and kind of my last chance to ask because I already sort of got us a reservation at this place in town? You know, because I was supposed to take you out weeks ago, but stuff always came up…”

Erin smiled and shook her head lightly, “you’ve been trying to ask me all week?”

Holtzmann let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding, and smiled softly, “yes.”

Erin pretended to take a moment to think about it before simply saying, “yes.”

“Yes?”

Erin nodded once, “yes.”

“Fantastic!” Holtzmann begun, a huge grin spread across her face. “So I will swing by and pick you up at 7?”

“Sounds good,” Erin said and pecked Holtzmann’s cheek. “I’m gonna head home then, and I will see you at 7!”

Erin started for the door only to be stopped by Holtzmann grabbing her wrist and pulling her back to her. She brought Erin into a searing kiss, and when they broke away Erin looked a little flustered, while Holtzmann grinned just a little wider than before.

Holtzmann went back to her desk and got back to work on something, and Erin shook her head and smiled at the ground, making her way downstairs and towards her apartment.

\----------------------------------------------

It was 6:56 when Holtzmann had made it to Erin’s apartment. She didn’t want to rush Erin by being early – granted it was only four minutes, but Holtzmann thought it best to wait a little bit. As she was standing outside Erin’s door, her nerves flared up again and she could already feel her hands go a little clammy. _Calm down,_ she told herself, _it’s just Erin. You practically live with her already, you’re not supposed to be this nervous, knock it off._ She took in a shaky breath and just as she was about to knock, she sank to the floor for a second instead, taking a minute to gather herself. _You can do this, Holtzmann. You’ve been planning this all week, you’re looking great, you’re gonna do just fine. Erin will be more than happy with everything, she’s happy with you, she’ll be happy with the place you picked._ She stood back up and took one last breath, _it will be like Disneyland. It will appear effortless, but behind the scenes will be preparation, hard work, and precision._

On the other side of the door was an equally as nervous, if not more nervous, Erin, running around her apartment desperately trying to figure out what to wear. She had initially gone for a pair of black jeans and a flannel button up, but every time she looked in the mirror she was worried it wasn’t good enough. On the other hand, the other outfits she’d been trying out had been too fancy in her opinion, so she had always ended up back with the black jeans and flannel. Casual, but could be formal enough if it had to be.

At exactly 7pm she heard three knocks on her door and stopped mid run from the bathroom to her bedroom, once again considering changing into a dress. She stood still for a moment before sighing and walking towards the door, straightening her shirt and patting her hair a little in the process. She reached for the handle and took a deep breath, pulling the door towards her to reveal Holtzmann on the other side.

Holtzmann’s breath hitched when Erin opened the door, although she was “just” wearing jeans and a flannel, Holtzmann thought Erin looked better than ever. A smile spread across her face and she leaned in quickly to peck her cheek, before pulling a rose from behind her back.

“For you,” Holtzmann said, “for being so kind as to accompany me to dinner this fine evening.”

Erin blushed lightly and accepted the rose before opening the door wider to let Holtzmann in. She didn’t say much before running off into her bedroom, leavening Holtzmann behind laughing.

When it had been nearly 10 minutes and Erin still hadn’t come out, Holtzmann walked towards her room, “Erin, what are you doing?”

“I’m just changing, I’ll be right out!” Erin said relatively calmly, although on the inside she was slowly but surely breaking down.

Holtzmann furrowed her brows, “what, why?”

“Because,” Erin started, a little unsure how to finish, “well because- I just- because- Uhm…” She walked towards the closed bedroom door and opened it to find Holtzmann right outside, dimples on full display. Erin finally took in what Holtzmann was wearing, dark blue jeans, a pale blue and white plaid shirt with an open waistcoat over it. She smiled as she looked back towards Holtzmann’s face, “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to wear, I don’t want to under-dress…”

“Erin,” Holtzmann said, resting her hands on Erin’s hip, “you look completely gorgeous.”

Erin smiled and looped her arms around Holtzmann’s neck before leaning in for a kiss. Holtzmann couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, and by the time they pulled apart, Erin was smiling too. She looked down at what she was wearing, before asking, “is this okay?”

Holtzmann laughed a little, “it’s more than okay, babe, you are truly breathtaking.”

Erin hesitated for a moment, “I don’t look too, you know,” she grimaced slightly, “gay?”

Holtzmann raised her eyebrows then, “but you _are_ kind of gay…?”

“Well yeah, but I don’t really want to look gay…”

Holtzmann burst out laughing then, before just shaking her head and starting for the door, “you’re like, offensive to your own people.”

Erin thought about that for a moment before catching up to Holtzmann who was stood by the door with Erin’s keys, ready to go, “I mean, I’m not offended.”

Once again Holtzmann just burst out laughing, finding this conversation hilarious. She decided it was probably a good time to change the topic, “either way, you look fantastic. Now let’s go eat, I’m starving!”

Erin nodded and took the keys from Holtzmann, locking the door before taking Holtzmann’s hand and intertwining their fingers, walking hand in hand towards wherever Holtzmann was taking her.

\----------------------------------------------

They had walked in relative silence for a while, both content walking in silence, taking in the scenery and simply enjoying being near the other. That was until curiosity got the best of Erin and she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“So,” she started, “where exactly are you taking me?

Shaking her head, Holtzmann answered, “nope, not telling.”

Erin sighed frustratingly, “okay, fine. But can you at least tell me if it’s far away or not?” She gave Holtzmann her best pouty face in hopes of getting something – anything – out of the other woman.

Holtzmann brought their hands up and placed a kiss on Erin’s knuckles, “I’m not gonna spoil anything, Erin…”

“Pleaaaaaase?” Erin begged.

Holtzmann laughed then, “okay, it’s not very far, I promise.”

Erin nodded to herself and figured it would be best not to keep asking questions. She had gotten lost in thought for a moment, and was suddenly pulled back and to a halt by Holtzmann. She turned to face her, ready to ask what was up, but when she was met with a grinning Holtzmann she opted for something else.

“What…?” She asked cautiously, knowing exactly what a smile like that could do.

Holtzmann nodded towards the building to Erin’s left, and as she looked over she realized they were stood in front of a small, rustic looking, Italian restaurant. It wasn’t particularly eye-catching or fancy it seemed, and there weren’t a lot of people inside – not because the place looked shabby, simply because the place was easy to miss unless you were looking for it. Erin concluded it was very Holtzmann, and it would probably be wonderful.

Turning back to look at Holtzmann, she found her looking at Erin in anticipation.

“So…?” Holtzmann started nervously, “is this okay? I know it doesn’t exactly look like much, but I swear this is the best Italian place in all of New York city.”

“What, are you kidding me? It looks great!” She stepped closer to Holtzmann are looped her arms around her neck and said, “it’s perfect,” before leaning in to give her a sweet kiss.

When they pulled apart Holtzmann was grinning again, and she grabbed Erin’s hand before leading her to the entrance where she held the door open for her. Erin smiled at her in response, and they were led to a table towards the back in a more secluded area of the restaurant, something Holtzmann had made sure of when she made the reservation for a bit more privacy.

A moment later Holtzmann was sat scanning the menu, trying to decide which of the pasta dishes she should get, while Erin was busy blatantly staring at Holtzmann – she’d been doing that a lot lately.

Without looking up from behind the menu, Holtzmann spoke up, “you’re doing that thing again…”

A deep red colored Erin’s cheeks as she blushed deeply, “sorry, you’re just… Well, you’re just sort of beautiful.”

Letting her menu drop to the table, Holtzmann smirked and raised an eyebrow, “I’m sort of beautiful?”

Erin smiled softly and reached for Holtzmann’s hand across the table, “you’re the most beautiful person to ever walk the earth, Holtz.”

\----------------------------------------------

They had eaten their food and talked about anything and everything, enjoying each other’s company, and they were now ready to leave. As they made their way out of the restaurant, Erin turned and started walking back where they first came from, only to have Holtzmann hold her back.

“Holtz, come on,” Erin urged.

Holtzmann, however, stood her ground and smiled.

Erin looked at her funnily for a moment, “did you want to go somewhere, or…?”

“Well,” Holtzmann started, a wicked grin on her face. “There is this thing downtown I thought could be fun? If you’re up for it, that is, we can do it another time too…”

 “A thing?” Erin raised an eyebrow, “you do hear how shady that sounds yourself, right?”

Holtzmann laughed a little bit then, “what, you don’t trust me?”

“Well yeah, but can’t you just tell me where we’re going?”

Holtzmann took that as a yes, and simply grabbed Erin’s hand and kissed her cheek quickly before dragging Erin with her downtown.

After having walked a minute in silence, Erin spoke up again, “so I take it you are not going to tell me where we’re going then?”

Holtzmann laughed, “No, Erin, I’m not telling you. You’ll see when we get there.”

Accepting her answer, Erin linked their arms and leaned more into Holtzmann as they made their way down the street.

\----------------------------------------------

“Wait, “Erin stopped dead in her tracks as she took in all the colorful lights and the smell of cotton candy. “There’s a fair?” She looked up at Holtzmann with wide eyes of amazement, to find Holtzmann smiling softly at her.

“Yep, there’s a fair,” Holtzmann said and tugged on Erin’s arm, “come on!”

Holtzmann went and got them tickets from the ticket booth, before taking a moment to take in Erin. Her face was filled with wonder and amazement, and Holtzmann smiled at the picture.

When she reached Erin again, Erin all but jumped her, kissing Holtzmann with all her might. Not that Holtzmann minded, of course, she brought her arms around Erin’s waist and pulled her impossibly closer.

They broke apart when the need for air became too much for Erin and she cursed her lungs for not being able to hold more air than they did. She couldn’t help the massive smile that made its way to her face as she leaned her forehead on Holtzmann’s.

Smiling equally as much as Erin, Holtzmann asked, “not that I’m complaining or anything, but what was that for?”

Erin let out an airy laugh, “just because you’re completely amazing.”

Holtzmann pulled back a little then, “uh, I think you mean you,” before pecking Erin’s cheek and moving further into the fair.

Following, Erin said, “no, I definitely meant you.”

Holtzmann just shook her head smiling, before changing the topic, “so anyway, what do you want to do first?”

Erin thought for a moment while looking around, “hmmm, what about that one?” She pointed to the Ferris wheel then, and starting dragging Holtzmann towards it.

“Woah, Erin, calm down, how about we just start with a game or something?” Holtzmann asked nervously as she held Erin back a bit.

Erin looked at her for a moment, like she wanted to ask a question, but simply shrugged and pointed at a booth instead. When Holtzmann sighed out in relief Erin raised her eyebrows at her, but either Holtzmann didn’t notice, or she chose to effectively ignore it. Deciding to let it go, Erin changed their course and headed for one of the many mini games.

\----------------------------------------------

They had been at the fair for hours, going through virtually all rides they were allowed to ride, Holtzmann tried to get them on a couple of the kids rides, but the operators were surprisingly strict and had refused to let them on. They were sat at a picnic table after having eaten all they could eat before feeling like they needed to throw up, and Erin was going on about something, while Holtzmann had zoned out a little bit, busy staring at Erin and smiling, nodding at the right places.

“Holtzmann!” Erin nearly shouted a second later.

Holtzmann shook her head, “huh? Sorry, I kind of zoned out… You’re really pretty.”

Erin blushed and answered shyly, “thank you.” It took a minute but she suddenly remembered what she had asked Holtzmann, “oh! I was just saying we should go on the Ferris wheel? It’s the last thing and I really want to go before we head home.”

Holtzmann tensed for only a moment before nodding almost manically, “of course! Yes, sure, yeah, yes, let’s do it!”

Once again Erin looked at her funnily, but Holtzmann kept ignoring it. Instead, Holtzmann got up and smiled somewhat nervously as she held a hand out to Erin, who took it and smiled.

They quickly made their way over to the Ferris wheel, where they paid for their tickets and got on. As the ride started going higher and higher, Holtzmann tensed visibly, and clutched Erin’s hand in hers tighter and tighter.

Erin didn’t notice to begin with, and was enjoying the experience and the amazing view of the city as they got higher, until Holtzmann had what felt like a death grip on her hand and she finally turned to really look at her. Holtzmann was sat with her eyes shut so tight it looked like it hurt, holding on to Erin and the rail of the cart they were in for dear life. She was as stiff as ever, and Erin immediately felt a pang of guilt in her chest, _of course! Holtzmann doesn’t like heights,_ Erin thought to herself, _that would be why she avoided this in the first place._

“Hey,” Erin said gently, while reaching over to cup Holtzmann’s cheek. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Holtzmann barely even registered Erin’s hand on her cheek, just nodded quickly as her response. They were moving higher, and Holtzmann’s breath was getting shallower. Erin was struggling with figuring out what to do to make this better, while  cursing herself for ever taking Holtzmann up there in the first place, thinking she should have known.

Just as Erin was about to speak up again, Holtzmann beat her too it, “so there’s something I should have told you before we came up here, Erin. I uhh, I’m kind of terrified of heights.”

Erin smiled to herself, “it’s okay, I kind of realized.” When Holtzmann let out a short nervous laugh, Erin kept going, “I mean, I wish you had told me so we could have avoided this whole thing, but I understand.”

“I’m so sorry, Erin,” Holtzmann was shaking her head, feeling tears well up in her closed eyes.

Erin turned in her seat, “hey, stop it. There’s nothing for you to be sorry for.” She leaned forwards and kissed Holtzmann’s forehead, “nothing at all, okay?”

Nodding briefly, Holtzmann decided to open her eyes for a minute only to look down and immediately finding it harder to breathe, while tears rolled down her cheeks.

Erin wiped the tears away, “it’s okay, Holtz, you’re okay. I’ve got you. Just open your eyes and focus on me, okay? Just look right at me, I’ve got you.”

Holtzmann did as instructed, and opened her eyes, looking directly into Erin’s. She was starting to get her breathing under control for only a second before her eyes flickered back down to see how high up they were before shaking her head again, breathing rapidly.

Erin, void of ideas, made a split-second decision and brought her hand to the back of Holtzmann’s head, bringing her to her in a searing kiss. She could feel Holtzmann relax instantly, making her smile into the kiss. Erin pulled back a short moment later, wanting to see how Holtzmann was doing, to find her smiling and looking at Erin.

“That helped,” Holtzmann said simply.

Erin shook her head before leaning in again, bringing their lips together in a soft but passionate kiss. By the time they broke apart, they were nearing the ground again, and Holtzmann felt a million times better.

“Just out of curiosity,” Erin started, “if you’re scared of heights, why did you come with me on this ride, we could have just, you know, _not_ gotten on, I wouldn’t have minded.”

After thinking for a minute, Holtzmann answered, “well, because I would have minded.” She turned more towards Erin, more comfortable with moving now than before, “after I first met you I made it my mission to give you everything you could ever want. You wanted to go on this Ferris wheel, so I was going to go on this stupid Ferris wheel even if it were to kill me,” she shrugged.

Erin just looked at her, “you’re kind of perfect, you know that?”

“I do, yes,” Holtzmann nodded, earning a light punch from Erin, “hey! That’s mean.”

Erin shook her head and pecked her cheek, deciding to let it go – after all, Holtzmann was perfect in her eyes.

\----------------------------------------------

The two had safely gotten of the Ferris wheel ride, and had made it back to Erin’s apartment. They were now laid in bed, Erin running a hand through Holtzmann’s blonde curls. She thought Holtzmann was asleep, so when she spoke up, she, by no means, expected Holtzmann to hear her.

“God, do you have any idea how perfect you are?” She said as she looked at Holtzmann’s sleeping face, “I think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Holtzmann scrunched her nose up in her sleep, and a huge grin took over Erin’s face, “and when I kiss you, God, Holtzmann, when I kiss you I feel like I won’t ever need to kiss anyone else ever again. You truly are the light of my life, and I think – I’m pretty sure – I love you…”

Erin was about to continue her speech when Holtzmann turned slightly in her sleep and flung an arm across Erin’s stomach, while tucking her face in the nook of Erin’s neck, mumbling, “you’re the light of my life, Erin.”

Erin was a bit taken aback, and she started stumbling around for the right words to say, eventually landing on, “I thought you were asleep.” The second she’d said it she furrowed her brows, “that’s not exactly what I meant to say.”

Holtzmann laughed lightly and sleepily mumbled, “s’okay,” before placing a kiss to Erin’s neck and adding, “now go to sleep, tired.”

It was Erin’s turn to laugh lightly, dropping a kiss to Holtzmann’s hair before closing her eyes, “sleep tight, Holtzmann.  
 


	6. Because I Love You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so once again I haven't really proofread this, meaning it's likely there are mistakes here and there... Sorry!

The following morning, Holtzmann was the first of the two to wake up, something that was unusual, seeing as Erin always seemed to be up at the crack of dawn. She tried to stretch, but when she felt a weight on top of her, she was forced to open an eye. Looking down, she found Erin lying practically on top of her, an arm flung across Holtzmann’s chest, head resting on her shoulder and a leg between her own. A grin spread across Holtzmann’s face before she could even think about stopping it, and she kissed the top of Erin’s head before gently untangling herself from Erin.

She silently made her way out of the room and down the hallway towards the kitchen. She put the coffee on before opening the fridge to grab the supplies she needed to make breakfast for herself and Erin. After about 30 minutes, the kitchen smelled faintly of burnt toast, more than half of the pack of bread Erin had gotten the day before was gone, and a surprisingly large number of dishes had stacked up, but Holtzmann had succeeded in making what she was aiming for – peanut butter and jelly French toast.

She moved her finished products from the pan over to two plates, before pouring two cups of coffee, adding a bit of cream to Erin’s and sugar to her own. She then proceeded to balance it all on a tray, making her way back towards Erin’s bedroom. She placed the tray down on the nightstand before getting back into bed, looking down at Erin and running a hand through her hair.

Erin stirred at the feeling of someone trailing their fingers through her hair, smiling before she opened her eyes to find Holtzmann looking down at her. She scooted closer to Holtzmann and placed her head in her lap.

They stayed like that for a few moments before Erin furrowed her brows, “hey Holtz?” She turned hear head to look up at Holtzmann, “not to ruin this incredibly peaceful and wonderful moment, but I feel like something smells very burnt?”

Holtzmann’s hand stilled in Erin’s hair for only a moment before resuming its motion, Holtzmann pretending not to know anything about this ‘burnt smell’ Erin was talking about. “Hmm?”

Erin rolled her eyes and repeated, “I can smell something very burnt, why?”

Shrugging, Holtzmann replied, “I don’t uhh- I don’t smell anything.”

“Holtz…”

“What, I don’t know, maybe you’re having a stroke or something…”

Erin looked at her for a moment, unsure how to respond to that, “you’d rather just casually throw out the idea that I might have stroke than-“

“Hey, do you want some coffee? I made coffee. Oh, and breakfast, I have coffee and breakfast.”

Erin squinted her eyes and looked at Holtzmann suspiciously, wondering if she might exit the bedroom to find her kitchen just happened to have burnt down like her desk did that one time. But Erin was still tired, and it was too early to do this, so she accepted the coffee, and decided to let it go for now.

When she sat up, Holtzmann handed her a plate with something that looked, well, she didn’t really know what it looked like. What she did know, however, was that there was a legit possibility she might actually have a stroke if she ate it.

Holtzmann, seeing how Erin was looking at her plate in horror, began explaining.

“I know it looks kind of… Disgusting. But! It will be delicious, I promise. It’s a peanut butter and jelly French toast!”

Erin just raised an eyebrow at Holtzmann, still not entirely convinced it was something safe to eat. However, Holtzmann just kept looking at her smiling, motioning for Erin to give it a go. So, naturally, she did. Because at this point, Erin would do anything Holtzmann asked her to.

“Oh my God,” Erin said to no one in particular.

Holtzmann grinned, “I know, right?”

“Oh my God, this is actually really really good!” Erin took another bite, “I mean it looks very disgusting, but it tastes SO good.”

Holtzmann laughed and took a bite of her own French toast, and they settled into a comfortable silence. Holtzmann had yesterday’s newspaper in front of her, with Erin leaning into her side reading with her.

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They had spent practically the whole weekend in bed, but it wasn’t until Sunday night, when they were lying in bed sharing soft kisses and touches, that Holtzmann suddenly remembered Friday night and Erin telling her she loved her. They were in the middle of a progressively heated kiss, Holtzmann hoovering above Erin, her hands having travelled slightly under her shirt, when she suddenly remembered and broke the kiss immediately.

Erin looked up at her in question, “are you okay?” She asked between breaths.

Holtzmann shook her head, as if trying to get the thought out of her mind, “what? Yeah, sorry, yeah I’m okay, sorry.” When Erin only looked at her she continued, “I just remembered something, I’m sorry, I’m okay though, really.”

Erin nodded and smiled, gently leading Holtzmann’s face closer to her own again. Holtzmann let out a laugh, but complied none the less, kissing Erin with all her might, gently but passionately all the same.

A few moments later, Erin broke their kiss yawning, making Holtzmann laugh as she laid down besides Erin again. Erin was blushing furiously, but Holtzmann just found the whole thing endearing.

“Tired?” Holtzmann asked.

Erin nodded and snuggled up to Holtzmann, who placed an arm protectively over Erin’s waist. It took less than a minute for Erin to fall asleep, while Holtzmann laid there smiling, listening to Erin’s even breaths for a while.  She was absolutely positive she loved Erin, but she didn’t know how exactly she could say it back. She knew she could just say it, but every time she had to say something really big and really serious she panicked and usually backed out, and she didn’t want to do that this time. She concluded she needed a plan of sorts, something that would make it impossible for her to back out at the last minute. Holtzmann told herself over and over, while trying to come up with a plan, that she needed to do this perfectly, because she needed Erin to know she loved her too. Erin might not have meant for Holtzmann to hear her – heck, Holtzmann wasn’t even sure Erin still remembered having said it at all – but she still needed to do this.

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The following morning, Erin, as usual, woke up at the crack of dawn, while Holtzmann was fast asleep, still having a firm grip around Erin’s waist. Erin turned around in her arms and looked at the sleeping mess of a blonde lying next to her, smiling before placing a kiss to Holtzmann’s nose. She scrunched her nose up, but kept on sleeping none the less. Erin then placed a kiss to her forehead, before her cheek, and as she saw Holtzmann repressing a smile, she leaned in to place a kiss just at the corner of Holtzmann’s mouth. She was just about to pull back and get up when Holtzmann rolled over practically on top of Erin, seemingly fully awake at this point, before crashing their lips together. They were both smiling when Holtzmann pulled back and lifted herself up and off Erin again, getting comfortable and ready to go back to sleep as if nothing had happened. Shaking her head, Erin climbed out of bed and made her way to the kitchen where she put the coffee on and fixed some toast for the two. When she was done, she walked back to the bedroom where she found Holtzmann sleeping again, thinking only she could fall asleep again so quickly.

She sat down on Holtzmann’s side, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “good morning.” She placed a kiss just behind Holtzmann’s ear, sending shivers down her spine. Holtzmann turned around and scooted back a little, tugging on Erin’s arm, silently asking her to lay down with her. “No, come on, you have to get up, we have to go to work soon, I’ve made us breakfast and coffee, you literally just have to move from this bed to a chair in the kitchen where you can’t possibly fall asleep.”

Holtzmann opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow, “is that a challenge, Erin?”

Erin’s eyes widened, “what? No! No, Holtz, it’s definitely not, not after last time.” Holtzmann laughed and tugged on Erin’s arm again, and this time she didn’t have the strength to resist, because deep down, all she wanted to do was be in that bed with Holtzmann. And also because the last time she didn’t, Holtzmann took her ‘challenge’ of not being able to get ready in 2 minutes, as Erin suggested, very seriously. It had resulted in a very messy bathroom, spilled milk all over the counter from Holtzmann trying to have a bowl cereal in the last 30 seconds, and Erin did not want a repeat of that. She was also thinking about this now because she was convinced that was a more justifiable reason to be held by Holtzmann for another hour.

The next time Erin looked over at her nightstand to see what time it was she all but jumped out of bed, “oh my God, it’s 9:15!” She was running around picking out an outfit, slightly panicked.

Holtzmann sat up in bed and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes, “Erin calm down, it’s just Abby and Patty. I’m sure we’re fine to come in a little bit later than usual, and it’s not like they ever come in on time either.” When Erin only continued to run around the room frantically, Holtzmann crawled to the foot of the bed and grabbed a hold of Erin mid-run. “Woah, slow down, okay? I texted Abby last night and told her we might be a little late, we’re okay.”

Erin nodded, and Holtzmann kissed her briefly before Erin asked, “wait, when did you text Abby last night?” Holtzmann shrugged, “because from what I remember, we were making out and then I yawned and then we were sleeping?”

“No, babe, _you_ were sleeping,” she kissed her cheek and finally got out of bed to locate some of her clothes. When another minute passed and Erin hadn’t moved or stopped looking at Holtzmann in question, she shrugged again, “I couldn’t sleep, no big deal.”

In fact, Holtzmann had stayed up till nearly 4am making a plan and writing a list of materials she needed if she  wanted to make this plan happen. She had texted Abby when she felt her plan was as good as it was gonna get, right before she fell asleep herself, knowing she would be above average tired this morning.

Erin accepted the explanation, and continued running around getting ready, Holtzmann laughing and looking at her in adoration, before following Erin’s example and getting ready too. 

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When they walked into the firehouse, Patty was the first to speak up, “someone got laid last night!”

Erin blushed and ducked her head, trying to discretely hide a little behind Holtzmann. Holtzmann, on the other hand, just grinned and winked at Patty.

“Oh my God, you guys, stop, I don’t need to know about your sex life!” Abby butted in.

Erin’s already red cheeks were turning redder by the second, and Holtzmann burst out laughing. She kissed Erin’s cheek before abandoning her with Abby and Patty in the kitchen, heading upstairs to get to work on her plan for Erin. 

When Erin came up to work at her desk a few minutes later, Holtzmann was sitting by the wall opposite of where Erin would be working, with her back to her. Erin found it a little bit weird, seeing as for the past weeks Holtzmann had tried working as close to Erin as possible (always with a safe distance if she was working on something unstable of course), but she didn’t think much of it at the time and just got to work. 

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It was nearing lunch time, and Holtzmann still hadn’t turned to look at Erin even once. It was first when she heard Erin nearing her workstation that she quickly turned around and got up, quickly turning Erin around and walking her in the opposite direction again.

Erin was a little confused, but let it go, “you up for some lunch? Abby wanted to go to this place down the street, she said they have-”

“Oh, uhh, I’m kind of in the middle of something, but I’ll be down later to eat, okay?” Holtzmann kissed Erin quickly, having walked her over to the door, before heading back over to her station and, once again, sitting down with her back facing Erin.

Erin furrowed her brows, now it was starting to get weird. Fair enough Holtzmann was usually kind of weird, but this wasn’t that kind of weird. This was the kind of weird that made Erin worry she’d done something wrong. Nevertheless, she made her way down the stairs, accepting Holtzmann’s weirdness, deciding it wasn’t worth paying more attention to – at least not yet.

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The days had passed, it was now Friday around noon, and Holtzmann had been acting weird all week. She hadn’t seen Erin outside of their work hours, every day claiming to have to work late if she were to ever get their new weapons ready. Every day, Erin had entered the firehouse hopeful and expectant, and every day she had left a little less hopeful than the same morning. Holtzmann barely spoke to her, she didn’t come down to eat lunch with them anymore, and the only contact she and Erin had was really just Holtzmann pecking Erin’s lips quickly in the mornings and evenings when she came and before she left.

Erin’s shoulders were slumped as she made her way over to Holtzmann’s workstation, already knowing what was going to happen: Holtzmann was gonna jump out of her seat to stop Erin from seeing the new weapons - whatever they were – then she would lead Erin to the top of the staircase, say she wasn’t hungry, and then quickly kiss Erin’s cheek and flashing her a smile before walking back to her station, sitting down with her back to Erin.

Erin’s predictions were accurate, and once again she made her way downstairs without Holtzmann. Holtzmann had turned to look at Erin just before she was out of sight, and she may be oblivious to a lot of things, but she did not miss the way Erin’s shoulders were slumped and her head was hung low. She knew she’d been kind of distant this week, but she was so close to being finished with her project, she couldn’t abandon it now. _Plus,_ she told herself, _if I just work a little bit more, it should be finished today and everything will be alright._ With that, she fought the urge to run after Erin and kissing her with all her might, apologizing over and over again for being a jerk this week, and got back to work instead.

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Holtzmann heard Erin walk up the stairs some 30 minutes later and furrowed her brows, usually she had at least an hour before Erin returned to her desk.

She had barely turned around before Erin was standing in front of her. She looked up to her in question and was about to say something when Erin spoke up.

“I know, I know, I’m not supposed to be here because you’re working on our ‘secret new weapons’ or whatever,” she dropped a bag in Holtzmann’s lap, “but just because you don’t want me around anymore doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you starve yourself to avoid me.”

Erin walked over to her desk again and sat down to eat her sandwich, and it broke Holtzmann’s heart to know she was the reason why Erin was looking more tired and hopeless than she had since Holtzmann had first met her. She looked down in her lap to find a sandwich for her, and she smiled weakly before deciding it couldn’t hurt to take a short break and eat something substantial.

She took a seat in front of Erin’s desk, causing Erin to look up at her in question.

Holtzmann smiled at her weakly, “is this okay?”

With a small smile on her lips, Erin carefully nodded her head, “of course. I just didn’t think you’d want to leave your station…”

Holtzmann shrugged, “probably about time for a break anyway.” Erin nodded in agreement, and Holtzmann took a bite of her sandwich, sighing happily. “Oh my god, this is so good, thank you so much.”

Erin laughed a little then, “you are very welcome. So how’s our new weapons coming along?” She asked, before shyly adding, “you’ve been pretty busy with them lately…”

Holtzmann felt a pang of guilt in her chest, but decided to ignore it for the time being, “it’s all coming together nicely, should be done by the end of the day if you’re interested?”

“Yes!” Erin all but yelled in excitement before clearing her throat and calming down a little, “I mean yeah, yes, sure, cool.”

Holtzmann smirked and raised an eyebrow, receiving a “oh shut up Holtz,” from Erin before they both started laughing.

“Oh, hey,” Erin started, “I’ve been wondering…” Holtzmann didn’t talk, but motioned for her to continue, so she did. “I’ve been wondering if after these mystery weapons you’re making, if you wanted to maybe help me out with a project?”

“Of course! What did you have in mind?”

“Uhm… Well, I’ve always kind of wanted a flamethrower…? Is that maybe something we could do, except, well, I suppose it would be a proton thrower, but with the flamethrower qualities and everything?” Erin was getting nervous and was afraid Holtzmann would think her idea was stupid, so naturally she started rambling, “I mean, I guess it’s kind of like the protonpack we have right now, isn’t it? Maybe it’s just a dumb idea, I basically have it already heh!”

“Woah, Erin, the proton pack is completely different from a flame thrower,” Holtzmann assured her. “After all, the proton packs, for now, only shoots proton streams, I guess you want more of a ‘proton shower’ effect, huh?”

Erin smiled and sighed, relieved, “yes, exactly.”

Holtzmann flashed her a grin, “well then lets figure out a way to make that happen!”

They ate the rest of their sandwiches while mainly talking about Erin’s proton flame thrower thingy, brainstorming ideas, Holtzmann making stupid puns when Erin started to downplay her ideas, “hey Erin, you gotta think like a proton – stay positive!”. After an hour or so had passed, however, Holtzmann had to get back to her project if she wanted it to be finished by the time the day was over. Erin didn’t mind so much now as she would have earlier she supposed, because that lunch had made her feel much better, and knowing Holtzmann was nearly done with the new weapons, she thought maybe that would make things just go back to normal. So, she too went back to work, hoping time would go by faster if she was working on something – spoiler alert: it didn’t.

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Some hours later, Holtzmann sat back in her chair, looking at her creation. She was very pleased with the outcome, and she was excited to finally share it with Erin and explain her offstandish behavior the past week. She turned around smiling, expecting to see Erin by her desk, only to find she was nowhere around. She briefly wondered how she hadn’t noticed her leaving the room, but simply shrugged, picking up her masterpiece before making her way downstairs.

She found Erin asleep on the couch, and Abby and Patty was nowhere to be found. She made her way over to the couch where she kneeled down in front of Erin’s head, carefully placing a hand on Erin’s cheek.

Erin opened her eyes slowly and smiled sleepily at the contact, turning her head and placing a kiss in Holtzmann’s palm. “Hey, are you done?”

Holtzmann’s smile grew wider and she nodded, “yeah, I’m done.”

Erin closed her eyes again and took a hold of Holtzmann’s hand, hugging it to her chest as if it were a teddy bear.

Holtzmann laughed then, “hey, I need you to wake up some, okay?” Erin shook her head stubbornly, “I wanna show you something, you just need to sit up.”

Erin opened an eye to find Holtzmann looking at her hopefully, and damn it, she can’t say no to that face. So, she sighed dramatically before sitting up and raising her eyebrows at Holtzmann, signaling for her to continue.

Holtzmann took a seat cross-legged next to Erin so she was facing her, before digging through the pocket of her lab coat. A moment later, she pulled a small box out of her pocket, and seeing the shocked look on Erin’s face she was quick to recover, “oh! No! No, I’m not proposing! Although I can definitely see how it could be seen like that now…” Erin visibly relaxed, but Holtzmann didn’t notice in the middle of her nervous rant, “I mean, not that I don’t want to marry you or anything, because I totally do. I mean, if you want to, that is, but like not right now maybe. I mean you’re great! And I wouldn’t be opposed to it or anything, just-“

Erin grabbed one of Holtzmann’s hands, “Holtz,” this effectively stopped Holtzmann’s rambling, “calm down, what’s up, what’s the box?”

Holtzmann looked down at the box she was holding, _yup, definitely looked like I was going to propose…_ “Well,” she started, “last week, after the fair, you said some things to me when you probably thought I was sleeping.”

Erin felt the panic rise in her chest. She had been one hundred percent sure Holtzmann didn’t remember any of that, she was sure Holtzmann hadn’t been conscious when she’d told her she loved her. That would explain Holtzmann’s behavior he past week, Erin thought she must have scared her away. _So stupid,_ she berated herself mentally, _of course she heard you, she even answered you, you idiot! And now you’ve probably scared her away – good job, Erin, scaring away and ruining the best thing that’s every happened to you, way to g-_

“Erin!” Holtzmann broke Erin out of her thoughts, “kinda lost you there for a second, huh?”

Shaking her head, Erin answered, “yeah, sorry, what were you saying?”

Holtzmann tried again, “I was just saying, that you said some things last week, after the fair. When you thought I was sleeping probably… But surprise! I wasn’t entirely asleep, but also not entirely awake. Point being, I heard you. And I know it doesn’t seem like it, especially not after this week – so sorry about this week by the way, I will make it up to you – but,” she opened the box to reveal a simple, yet very elegant ring. “Like I said, I’m not proposing. Not yet anyway… This is just a promise ring.” She took the ring out of the box and held it out to Erin.

Erin took it and carefully inspected in closer. It looked very handmade, and very Holtzmann – it was a simple silver band, seemingly made from a mix of different metals. At first glance it was simple enough, however upon closer inspection one could see Holtzmann’s slightly messy style. It was perfect.

Erin looked back up to Holtzmann after a couple minutes of admiring the ring, remembering what Holtzmann had said, “a promise ring?”

Holtzmann nodded, “yes, a promise ring. It just means that I love you, and that I want to be with you for a really really long time.” 

Erin was quiet for another moment before slipping the ring on her finger and throwing her arms around Holtzmann’s neck, kissing her with all her might and knocking her over in the process. She tried her best to convey all her feelings in that one kiss, because at the moment she didn’t know how else to make that happen.

When Erin pulled back a moment later, Holtzmann was grinning up at her, “so you like it?”

Erin pecked her lips one more time before sitting back up and pulling Holtzmann up with her, “I love it, it’s perfect.” Holtzmann nodded and Erin realized something, “there are no new weapons, are there?”

Holtzmann laughed and shook her head, “no. No new weapons, just a ring.”

“So this is why you’ve been acting all weird and distant this week?”

Holtzmann nodded, “I’m sorry, I just really wanted it to be a surprise, and I’m kind of oblivious to a lot of things sometimes, so I didn’t know what I was doing. Although now I know I was kind of stupid to do it like this now, because although I never intentionally meant to hurt you I know I have. But I’m going to make it up to you, I promise.”

“Holtzmann, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not, I treated you really badly this week, that’s not okay.”

“Well, maybe not, but it’s okay now. Just promise you won’t do that again please…”

Holtzmann nodded furiously, “I promise, I will never do that again. I am so, SO, sorry.”

Erin nodded and smiled, “I know.” She got up off the couch and held a hand out to Holtzmann who took it without a second thought. She led them towards the door, and Holtzmann came to a stop just as they reached the door.

“Wait, hang on one moment, I just have to run upstairs and grab something before we leave!”

Erin barely had time to wonder what she could possibly need before Holtzmann was back, holding a roll of paper out to Erin, smiling shyly.

Erin Raised an eyebrow at Holtzmann, but peeled off the tape holding the roll together nonetheless, and unrolled what turned out to be blueprints for a proton flame thrower.

“So after we talked about it, I got an idea and just got it down on paper before I forgot. It still needs some adjustments, but I figured it was at least a start? And if you don’t like it, we can start over.”

Erin looked at Holtzmann in adoration before leaning in and giving her a brief kiss, “this is great, you’re great.”

Holtzmann grabbed a hold of Erin’s hand again and turned off the lights before exiting the firehouse, “no, _you’re_ great, Erin.” She kissed Erin’s cheek, “and I love you.”

Smiling and leaning into Holtzmann’s side as they walked she replied, “I love you too.”


	7. Because I’m Gonna get Slimed Again

A few nights later, Erin and Holtzmann found themselves back at the Ghostbusters’ HQ. Holtzmann had just started her work on Erin’s flamethrower, or _proton shower_ as she’d taken to calling it, and while Abby and Patty had left about an hour ago, Erin had been waiting patiently for Holtzmann to finish up for the night.

“Holtzmann, are you finished?” Erin whined at Holtzmann again. She was getting restless, she was tired, and she really just wanted to go home and go to bed and have Holtzmann hold her.

Without taking her eyes off what she was doing, Holtzmann replied, “just need one more minute and then we’re good.”

Erin rolled her eyes, and walked over from her desk where she’d been seated to stand in front of Holtzmann’s desk, “you’ve been saying that literally every single minute for the past hour.”

Holtzmann just nodded, and answered without looking up again – she was definitely not paying attention. “Yeah, yep, I hear yah, I just need one more minute and then we can leave, I promise.”

Erin waited exactly one more minute, before she rounded the desk and walked up behind Holtzmann, spinning her chair so she was forced to look at Erin.

“Erin! What are you doing?! What if I’d been working with something explosive, you could have killed us!”

Erin just smirked down at her deviously before supporting herself on the arm rests of Holtzmann’s chair, leaning in close enough so their faces were only an inch or so apart, their breaths mingled together. “I guess we got lucky then, huh?”

Erin barely got to finish her sentence before Holtzmann all but leapt out of her chair, crushing their lips together. Erin smiled into the kiss and moved to pull back, only to have Holtzmann bring her hands around Erin’s waist, urging her to take a seat on her lap. Doing exactly that, Erin took a seat across Holtzmann’s lap, and soon felt a hand come around the back of her neck, urging her forward again. She brought her own hands to Holtzmann’s face, cupping her cheeks like she was the most delicate thing in the whole world. Holtzmann ran her tongue over Erin’s lower lip, eager to deepen the kiss, and Erin immediately opened her mouth, letting out a low moan at the taste of the other woman.

Holtzmann snaked her hands along Erin’s sides and around to her back, where she lifted up Erin’s shirt ever so slightly to run her hands across the warm skin of her lower back. Erin shivered when Holtzmann’s cold hands came in contact with her skin, but leaned further into her none the less.

The kiss had become progressively more heated over the span of a couple minutes, and they both jumped at the sound of Holtzmann’s phone ringing. Holtzmann decided to effectively ignore it, and recaptured Erin’s lips with her own, causing Erin to forget about the phone ringing as well, her head going fuzzy from Holtzmann’s kisses and touches. The phone stopped and started ringing again several times before it went silent after what they both thought was the last time whoever it was would try to reach her.

Holtzmann stood from the chair, lifting Erin, who simply wrapped her legs around Holtzmann, with her over to the bed in the corner of the room. It only took for Holtzmann to lay Erin down on said bed, crawling up to hover above her, and trailing her kisses away from Erin’s mouth and along her jaw for Erin’s phone to go off. They let it ring out once, but when it started ringing a second time, Holtzmann groaned loudly and let her forehead fall to rest on Erin’s shoulder.

Breathing in deeply, she briefly lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling, yelling at no one in particular, “I just want to fuck my incredibly beautiful, way out of my league, girlfriend. Is that so much to ask?”

Erin laughed at that and reached to her back pocket to grab her phone, “hello?”

Holtzmann looked down to meet Erin’s eyes again, before smirking deviously and attacking her, peppering kisses all over her face, before moving to her neck where she sucked and nipped lightly. She briefly looked back up at Erin who was biting her lip, trying hard to ignore what Holtzmann was doing to her.

A moment later, Erin hung up, and Holtzmann pulled back to look at her in question. Before anything, Erin wound her arms around Holtzmann’s neck and brought her down into a short lived, but searing kiss.

“Oh my God, what jerk invented the phone?” She whined up at Holtzmann, only to receive laughter and a questioning look in return. “So that was Abby, she got a call from some old lady downtown who apparently has a focused, non-terminal, repeating phantasm roaming around her mansion.”

Holtzmann raised an eyebrow, “a class 5?”

Erin nodded and sighed heavily, “a class 5 full-roaming vapor.”

“Ohh,” Holtzmann grimaced, “the slimy ones… And to think the night was going so well.”

Erin nodded and sighed again, “I know, and now I’m gonna get slimed…”

“That’s not a certainty though,” Holtzmann said, trying to lighten the mood. When Erin only gave her a pointed look in return Holtzmann leaned down and pecked her lips, “yeah, I know, you’re gonna get slimed.”

Erin groaned and threw an arm across her face, only to have Holtzmann lift her arm away from her face. Erin pouted up at her and Holtzmann leaned down to place a sweet kiss to her lips, before moving to climb off of her. Holtzmann looked at her curiously for a moment when she was held back, and was about to ask when Erin smiled deviously again, “Abby said she and Patty were on their way over here, and since we’re already here, there’s still time to make out some…?” She said the last part a little shyly. Holtzmann, however, only grinned widely down at her before leaning back in.

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Abby and Patty had eventually made it to the firehouse, where they had been met with two very flustered co-workers. Neither of them had asked any questions, and instead they had all just changed into their jumpsuits and gotten into the ecto-1, headed for this lady’s house.

When they parked out front, someone immediately opened the door to the mansion, running out to meet the crew. She was yelling frantically about what was inside her house and how they needed to get that thing out of there right this second, ‘or else…’ And while none of the Ghostbusters appreciated the ‘or else…’ threat, this was their job, and they were more than happy to do it. Abby managed to calm down this lady, at least enough to where her frantic was resembling the level of frantic you would expect, and she had told her to wait outside while they took care of it.

The four of them stood outside the door for a moment, looking to each other and nodding briefly before reaching behind them, grabbing their proton guns, and cautiously opening the door.

“Woah,” Holtzmann’s jaw dropped when they walked inside, “I know you said Mansion, but damn.”

Patty nodded, “yeah, Abby, this ain’t a mansion, it’s a castle!”

Holtzmann looked around and took in the house with awe, suddenly eyeing the most wonderful thing. She immediately abandoned the group, running across the room to a shelf filled with snow globes. She turned around, catching Erin’s eyes, before grinning and pointing to the shelf behind her with raised eyebrows. Naturally, she had to shake every single one of them, and Erin watched on in adoration, not noticing Abby and Patty was already in another room and she was stood alone in the middle of the entryway. Turning back and finding no one, she just shrugged before making her way to the stairs on her right. She started to carefully climb the stairs, trying to look out and stay on top of her game, just in case the slimer decided to make an appearance.

Holtzmann had managed to shake up every single one of the many snow globes, and a satisfied grin was now gracing her face. She turned around a furrowed her brows when she realized none of the other busters were in eye sight, so she moved back towards the entryway to find Erin nearing the top of a set of stairs.

Just then, Erin turned around and caught sight of Holtzmann. Holtzmann grinned and waved up at her, and Erin grinned back. Erin and Holtzmann were stood staring longingly at each other for just a moment too long, and they both missed the green blob that crashed into Erin’s back, effectively pushing her down the stairs.

“Oh my God, Erin!” Abby yelled from across the room. Holtzmann turned around to face Abby, her eyes as wide as ever in shock.

Patty came running into the room at the sound of Erin falling and Abby yelling, “Holtzy, look out!” She screamed and pointed at something behind her.

Holtzmann barely had time to get out of the way and avoid being ran into as well. She looked between Erin, who currently wasn’t moving, and Abby and Patty for a moment, lost on what to do. Receiving a nod and a “go!” from the both of them, Holtzmann ran over to where Erin was lying at the bottom of the stairs as Abby and Patty managed to corner the ghost in the kitchen. Holtzmann kneeled down beside Erin, who had regained consciousness, and was writhing and struggling to control herself. There were tears streaming down her face, and Holtzmann carefully reached out and placed a hand on Erin’s shoulder.

“Erin, baby, can you sit up for me please?”

Erin shook her head violently, closing her eyes as more tears streamed down her cheeks, and Holtzmann’s heart broke into what felt like a million pieces. Regardless, she reached for Erin to help her sit up, only to have Erin flinch hard and yank her arm away as Holtzmann moved to grab it. Unsure of what to do, Holtzmann placed an arm around Erin’s back and under her knees, lifting her into an upright position.

As soon as she’d done so and sat down next to Erin, Erin leaned over and buried her face in Holtzmann’s neck, sobbing uncontrollably while bunching up a part of Holtzmann’s sleeve in her fist. Holtzmann gently and cautiously placed her arm around Erin, feeling tears pressing in her own eyes. She was slightly freaking out herself, and she was completely terrified. She dropped kissed into Erin’s hair and tried her best to comfort her with soothing words, while also trying to stay somewhat calm and collected

“Shh, it’s okay baby, I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

\----------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, Abby and Patty came back out of the kitchen, holding a now smoking ghost trap.

Abby looked at the two in concern, “is she okay?”

Holtzmann looked down to Erin briefly, who was still sobbing, although somewhat more controlled now. She looked back up to Abby and Patty and shook her head, “we need to go to the hospital.”

Patty and Abby nodded before Patty asked, “do you need any help getting her to the car?”

Holtzmann shook her head, “no, we’ll be out in a minute.”

She watched the two of them leave, before looking back to Erin. She brought a hand up to tuck some strands of hair behind Erin’s ear, before kissing her temple, “do you think you can stand up?”

Erin opened her eyes and blinked at the bright lighting for a moment, feeling her as if her head was about to explode, before just closing them again and shaking her head.

Holtzmann nodded, before once again placing an arm around her back and under her knees, standing up with Erin in her arms, carrying her out to the car bridal style. Erin just put her head down on Holtzmann’s shoulder as the feeling of intense pain washed over her again, once again bunching up the fabric of Holtzmann’s jumpsuit in her fist as she was carried out to the car. 

Patty was already behind the wheel, and Abby was up front in the passenger seat with her. Abby jumped out of the car, however, when she saw Holtzmann walking towards them, to hold open the back door so she could place Erin in the back seat. Holtzmann quickly rounded the car and got in on the other side, and as soon as she did, Erin scooted over and once again buried her head in Holtzmann’s neck.

\----------------------------------------------

As Patty pulled into the hospital parking lot, she looked to Erin in the rearview mirror to see her having quieted down maybe a bit too much.

“Hey Erin,” she half yelled back at her. When she got no response, she yelled at Holtzmann instead, “Holtzmann!”

Holtzmann broke out of her trans she’s been in, just staring at the top of Erin’s head when Erin had started to quiet down. She looked up to meet Patty’s eyes in the mirror, raising her eyebrows at her.

“That girl better not be asleep back there, she shouldn’t be sleeping till someone’s confirmed she doesn’t have a concussion or anything, which is a very real possibility. She really took a tumble back there.”

Holtzmann’s eyes widened again and she looked down to Erin, just about to shake her lightly to make sure she was awake when Erin mumbled out something.

“I’m not sleeping.”

Holtzmann sighed out in relief and kissed the top of her head.

Just as she did, Patty stopped the car directly in front of the hospital ER entrance, and Holtzmann hurried out of the car, before helping Erin out after her. She stepped around to Erin’s good side, bringing Erin’s arm over her shoulder and her own to Erin’s waist to support her weight as they made their way inside.

\----------------------------------------------

Erin had been brought in for an x-ray immediately after she and Holtzmann stepped into the ER waiting room, and as only one of the four ghostbusters were allowed to go with her, Holtzmann had gone while Abby and Patty stayed behind in the waiting room.

Erin was examined further by a doctor while they waited for her x-ray images of her arm, and almost immediately, the doctor had confirmed that she did, indeed, have a concussion. From that point, things only seemed to go downhill. Erin’s arm was broken, as was perhaps obvious from the start, however it was broken in two places, one of which needed to be set surgically before it could be wrapped up in a cast.

A moment later, after having offered Erin pain medication while they prepped an OR, the doctor left with a comment that she would be back once they were ready to take her in.

Holtzmann walked over to sit on the edge of the bed where Erin was sat, before reaching out to wipe away the freshly fallen tears off of Erin’s face. “Why did you say no to the pain medication?” When Erin only shrugged, Holtzmann looked down to her lap and quietly added, “you’re clearly in pain…”

Erin reached out and placed a hand on Holtzmann’s chin, lifting her face to meet her eyes, “I’m fine, Holtzmann, I promise.” She leaned forward to peck her lips.

Holtzmann looked at her skeptically, but nodded, none the less.

\----------------------------------------------

Erin had been taken in for the operation about an hour later, and she’s been on the table for nearly two hours now. Holtzmann had spent the entirety of those two hours pacing around the waiting room impatiently. Abby and Patty had tried to calm her down, but had quickly realized it was an impossible task, leading them to give up almost as soon as they’d started, leaving Holtzmann to her pacing. 

A few moments later, Erin’s doctor made her way down the hall towards them, and Holtzmann immediately looked to her in question. Abby and Patty noticed Holtzmann had stopped pacing and was by her side quicker than one would think possible, also looking at the doctor with expectant eyes.

The doctor smiled, “she’s fine. The surgery was a breeze, we got everything set back to where it is supposed to be before we put on a cast. She’s fine, but she’s currently still asleep. If you’d like, you can all go see her, as long as you let her rest for a little while longer, okay?”

The three ghostbusters all nodded furiously, and the doctor lead them back down the hall to Erin’s room. She held the door open for the three of them before stepping back and closing the door, leaving them alone.

Patty and Abby held back for a moment, as Holtzmann made her way to Erin’s bedside. She reached a hand out and tucked a few stray pieces of hair behind Erin’s ear, before leaning down and placing a kiss to Erin’s forehead. She was stood looking down at Erin’s sleeping form for a moment, carefully running her fingers through her hair, and she was so caught up in it that she jumped when Patty walked up and placed a hand on her shaking shoulder. She wondered when she’d started crying, but instead of questioning it, she turned around and buried her face in Patty’s shoulder. Abby came to their side and rubbed her hand soothingly up and down Holtzmann’s back, calming her down enough to bring her over to a chair by the far wall of the room. She sat down and brought her feet up with her, hugging her knees close to her chest and laying her head down on them, facing away from the other two people in the room.

Abby squatted down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, “she’s okay, Holtz. She’s gonna be okay.”

Holtzmann nodded weakly in response, but didn’t turn to face them. Silent tears kept running down her face, and she couldn’t help but think this was somehow her fault. If she just hadn’t gotten so caught up in those snow globes, she could have gone with Erin, she could have been the one the ghost ran into. She should have stopped it. She was mentally berating herself, and she was too lost in thought to hear Patty telling her they were going to get some coffee.

When she heard the door close, she cautiously lifted her head and looked around the room. Her eyes immediately landed on Erin, who was still sleeping peacefully. She grabbed the sleeve of her suit and wiped her eyes before taking a deep breath and walking over to Erin’s side again.

“I’m so sorry,” she started, “I’m so, so, sorry, Erin.” She started crying furiously again, and brought a hand up to cover her mouth. This was too much for her, she needed air, and she needed it now. She felt as if she was suffocating in that room, and she turned around abruptly, headed for the door. She opened it and almost immediately crashed into Abby.

“Woah, Holtzmann, where are you going?” Abby looked at her in worry.

Holtzmann just shook her head, and walked past her, making her way outside. 

She took a deep breath once she made it out of the building, and leaned over, supporting herself on a wall. She could hear people coming and going, but paid no attention to them. A moment later, Patty was standing next to her, patiently waiting for Holtzmann to somewhat collect herself again.

Once she’d done that, Patty walked up to her, “you okay?”

Holtzmann once again wiped at her eyes, but shook her head no. “No, I don’t think I am. I don’t know what to do, she’s in there because of me! She’s in so much pain and it’s all because I was distracted by some stupid fucking snow globes!” Patty raised an eyebrow and smirked at the harsh language, but Holtzmann paid no attention to it. “I mean, I could have stopped it, I could have undone all of this, I could have caught her! I could have not just stood there like an idiot when she fell, I just- I could have done something, Patty! This is all my fault, I should have done something.”

Holtzmann’s breaths started picking up again, and Patty walked over to her, gently grabbing her shoulders to keep her still. “Hey, look at me. This is not your fault. I know that, Abby knows that, Erin knows that, and _you_ know that. You did good- hell, you did great! You are not at fault here, you did what you were supposed to do.”

Holtzmann looked at her with tired eyes, before eventually nodding weakly. Patty lead the two of them back to Erin’s room, to find Abby sitting at Erin’s side holding her hand gently. Holtzmann tried to smile at her, but it probably looked more pain filled than she intended for it to look. The three of them stayed in the room for a few hours until Erin’s doctor came back in and told them all to get some rest. Holtzmann refused to leave, and while it took a quick discussion to make that happen, they all eventually agreed to let her stay.

She pulled a chair up close to the side of Erin’s bed, and took a hold of her hand. Just as she did, she felt Erin stir, and Holtzmann immediately looked over to Erin.

Erin smiled widely at the sight of Holtzmann and attempted to squeeze the hand in hers. “Hey you,” she drawled out.

Holtzmann laughed lightly and brought a hand up to cup Erin’s cheek, “hey, sleepyhead”.

“Will you- Holtz. Will you- can you- do you wanna help me steal a giraffe?” Erin giggled at her own stumbling over her words.

Holtzmann burst out laughing – Erin was definitely still high.  She nodded none the less, “I would be honored.”

Erin grinned widely at her before her eyes started to close again. Within a minute she was asleep once again, and Holtzmann couldn’t help but smile. She was starting to get a little bit drowsy, the nervous and panicky adrenaline that had previously taken her over starting to leave her body, and she bent over, placing her head in Erin’s lap, sighing and closing her eyes.

\----------------------------------------------

Holtzmann woke the next morning to the feeling of someone trailing their fingers through her hair. She stirred slightly, and the movement stopped momentarily, before resuming as Holtzmann turned her head over and tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes. Once her eyes were less cloudy, she looked up and was met with the sight of Erin grinning down at her. She all but jumped out of her seat and leaned over Erin to inspect her face.

Erin smirked, and quickly leaned up to place a kiss to Holtzmann’s cheek, before groaning and laying her head back down on her pillow and closing her eyes.

“It feels like someone is hammering the inside of my skull, make it stop,” she whined.

Holtzmann cupped her cheek and stroked her thumb across Erin’s cheekbone. She felt Erin lean into the touch, and grinned down at her, “I know. How’s your arm?”

Erin lifted her now cast clad arm up for Holtzmann to see, who snorted loudly, “shut up!”

“But Erin,” Holtzmann started and pointed to the cast, “it’s bright yellow.”

Erin only shook her head, “fine. You can laugh all you want, _if_ , and it’s a big if. _If_ you climb into this bed with me a hold me.”

Erin scooted over to emphasize it, but Holtzmann stood her ground looking down at her now very interesting boots.

“Please?” Erin asked again.

Holtzmann sighed, “Erin…”

“No,” Erin shook her head, “you are not blaming yourself for this, this is not your fault.” Holtzmann opened her mouth and tried to interject, but Erin held up a hand and stared her down, “I said no, Holtzmann.”  

After looking at Erin for another moment to make sure she would be okay, she sighed before kicking off her shoes and climbing into the bed with her. She sat there awkwardly for a second, afraid to move and hurt Erin any more than she was hurt already. Rolling her eyes, Erin snuggled up to her side, and lifted one of Holtzmann’s arms over her head around her shoulders.

Holtzmann laughed, but got the general idea. She got comfortable, and laid her head down on top of Erin’s once she had gotten comfortable as well. Erin breathed in deeply before sighing happily. 

\----------------------------------------------

Erin had fallen asleep, and it wasn’t until a couple of hours later when Erin’s doctor walked in, followed by Abby and Patty, that she woke up again.

“So,” her doctor started, “how are you feeling?” She asked while jotting down some numbers on Erin’s medical chart.

“I’m doing okay, I really just want to leave to be honest.”

Laughing the doctor walked over to her, pulling out a pen torch, shining it in Erin’s eyes. “Everything seems okay, so we should be good to discharge you this afternoon.”

Erin nodded and felt Holtzmann gently squeeze her shoulder. She turned her head to look at her and gave her a smile, before looking back to the doctor, thanking her before she exited the room.

“So,” Patty started, “you’re really feeling okay?”

Erin nodded and smiled, “yeah, I’m alright. A little headache that I was told was to be expected due to the concussion, but nothing bigger than that.”

Patty nodded and Abby interjected, “Jesus Christ, Erin, you scared the shit out of me.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Abby shook her head, “no, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have left you like that. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Erin nodded again, “I am.”

The four of the talked for a while, before Erin mentioned being tired. Abby and Patty left, and Holtzmann laid down with Erin, holding her closely.

\----------------------------------------------

Erin was cleared for discharge later that day, and Holtzmann had called Patty to have her and Abby come pick them up. She had been instructed to take it easy for a couple of weeks, no going on busts, minimal screen time, and she should try to get as much rest as possible for the first upcoming week.

She was stood signing the final paperwork as Holtzmann walked up beside her and placed a hand on her lower back. Erin turned her head and smiled at her before getting back to the paperwork. Holtzmann quickly pecked her cheek, and Erin smiled before handing the forms back to the nurse.

“That’s it, you are free to leave,” the nurse smiled at the two of them.

She thanked her and reached for Holtzmann’s hand as they walked towards the exit. Outside, Abby and Patty were standing by the Ecto-1, waving and grinning manically at them. Erin looked to Holtzmann who just shrugged, before tugging the hand in hers, “let’s go home.”

\----------------------------------------------

A few weeks had passed, and Erin had been cleared for light work. Her arm was still wrapped in a cast, but she had been cleared for Ghostbusting on a ride-along level. She wasn’t allowed to actually do any heavy busting, but she was allowed to come along for the less brutal busts.

They had just made it to another ghost owners house, and while Abby and Patty ran out and gathered up their gear from the trunk immediately, Holtzmann and Erin were sat in the front seat still.

Holtzmann looked over to Erin uncertainly, "are you okay?"

Erin smiled weakly at Holtzmann’s worry, "I’m not sure."

"You know," Holtzmann started, "we could just bail. Abby and Patty take care of the ghost busting business and we run off together." Erin laughed lightly, "we could start our own ghost busting business, but in Paris, I’m sure there are ghosts that need busting over there too. Work 20 hours a week-"

"Spend the weekends in bed," Erin added dreamily.

Holtzmann smiled over at Erin before reaching her hand out to cup Erin’s cheek. Erin leaned into the touch and smiled, closing her eyes and sighing happily.

Holtzmann reluctantly started to retract her hand, only to have Erin grab it instead. Erin placed a kiss in the palm of it, earring herself a grin from Holtzmann.

They sat like that, staring lovingly at each other, for a few moments more, until Erin turned to look out the window towards the house where Abby and Patty were still talking the the lady who had called them. "We should probably get going."

Holtzmann nodded, but made no indication she was going to move. "Are you sure you’re ready for this?"

Erin turned back to look at Holtzmann and leaned over the console to kiss her sweetly before nodding, "yes. I’m ready, let’s go." She let go of Holtzmann’s hand and moved to open the door, and only then did Holtzmann climb out of the car as well. She headed for the trunk, where she picked up hers and Erin’s proton packs, before shutting the door and grabbing Erin’s hand again. With one last look at the other, Erin gave one firm nod, "let’s do this," before they made their way up to their fellow Ghostbusters. 


	8. Because she will eat you alive

Erin and Holtzmann were laid in bed a few nights later, sharing soft kisses and touches.

“Hey,” Holtzmann broke the silence and grinned at Erin.

Erin laughed, but responded none the less, “hi.”

“Kock knock.”

Erin raised her eyebrows in amusement, but when Holtzmann only looked at her, she went along with it, “who’s there?”

“A pencil.”

“A pencil who?”

Holtzmann sighed and turned to lie on her back, dramatically looking up at the ceiling, before answering, “never mind, it’s pointless.”

Erin groaned before burying her smiling face in Holtzmann’s shoulder, “oh my God you are such a loser.”

Holtzmann laughed as she placed her arms around Erin and pulled her closer. Erin lofted her head then, and placed a sweet kiss to her lips. Smiling as she pulled back, she pecked Holtzmann’s cheek too, before laying her head down on her chest, breathing in deeply.

“I like this.”

Holtzmann dropped a kiss into Erin’s hair, “I like this too.”

“I like you holding me, you’re my safe haven.”

Holtzmann’s smile grew impossibly wider, and she shifted while lifting her head slightly to look at Erin’s face, “I love you.”

Erin laughed, “I love you too.” She snuggled further into Holtzmann, who tightened her hold on the woman.

A moment later, she could feel Erin’s breaths evening out, so she reached over to turn out the lights. “Sleep tight, Erin.”

She received a mumbled response, before feeling herself start to fall asleep as well. 

\----------------------------------------------

The next morning, Erin woke to her phone ringing. She heard Holtzmann groan and mumble something like “turn it off” before she was pulled closer by her. She laughed before reaching over Holtzmann to the nightstand where her phone was. She answered it sleepily without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

Not even a moment later Erin shot up and was suddenly fully awake. Holtzmann whined and furrowed her brows when Erin stood from the bed and entered the bathroom, she cracked an eye open and lifted herself up on her elbow. She rubbed at her eyes and looked to the now closed bathroom door expectantly.

When Erin exited the bathroom a few minutes later, Holtzmann only looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“So,” Erin started as she made her way back towards the bed, “that was my mother.” She took a seat at the foot of the bed, and Holtzmann sat up fully. “She saw us on the news, and now she and my father are coming to town. They are apparently interested in what exactly it is we do and they wanted to come see for themselves.”

Erin had gone rigid. Her back was straighter and tighter than when Holtzmann had first met her, and she was also pretty sure Erin hadn’t blinked since re-entering the room. Holtzmann took a moment to carefully chose her words, knowing far too well how her often impulsive and not thought-through comments could end in a disaster.

“And uhh… How do you feel about this?” Holtzmann tried carefully.

Erin turned to look at her then, eyes filled with worry and on the verge of tears.

“C’mere,” Holtzmann nodded her to her and opened her arms. Erin crawled into them before burying her face in the nook of Holtzmann’s neck and sighing heavily.

“I just don’t understand why,” Holtzmann hummed in agreement and dropped a kiss into her hair, “I mean, why now? They never believed me before, I mean for God’s sake, they sent me to therapy instead of just listening to me. 

A tear rolled down Erin’s cheek and Holtzmann reached up to wipe it away, “I know. But now you have Abby and Patty and me right there with you. We’ve got your back.” She pressed a kiss to her temple.

Erin nodded and snuggled further into Holtzmann’s hold, “they have been planning this for a couple of weeks actually, and they’re coming in tomorrow, they just neglected to call me sooner for whatever God known reason.” Erin lifted her head and looked at Holtzmann slightly nervously, “can we just stay in bed today and pretend they’re not coming tomorrow...?”

Holtzmann feigned shock and gasped lightly, “Are you, Dr. Erin Gilbert, asking me to play hooky today?”

Erin groaned and buried her face in Holtzmann’s shoulder, “Holtzmann,” she whined.

“Nono, as long as you’re sure you won’t die if we don’t go into work today I am one hundred percent on board.”

Erin laughed lightly then, “I’m willing to take that chance. Will you text Abby or Patty?”

Holtzmann nodded, and reached for her phone to text Patty.

 **Holtzmann:** Hey Pattycake! Erin and I won’t be coming in today. Her parents are coming to town tomorrow and she’s a little on edge. Call if you need us!

A few minutes passed before she received a text back from Patty,

 **Patty:** I’ll let that one slide… Don’t worry about it, take care of our girl, I’ll fill in Abby.

“Everything’s good, they’ll call if they need us,” Holtzmann said as she reached to set her phone back down on the nightstand, before moving to lie down again and pulling Erin down with her. She brought her arms around Erin, pulling her impossibly closer, before closing her eyes again.

Erin sighed and breathed in deeply. She had no idea how any of this was going to play out, but as the sound of soft snores hit her ears she simply smiled to herself and decided she could worry about it later. And with that, she, too, closed her eyes, and within moments they were both asleep again.

\----------------------------------------------

They had spent the whole day in bed, Holtzmann having to occasionally calm Erin down and make sure she was breathing in the midst of her panic, but all in all it had been a good day. Now, the following morning, the two were making their way into the firehouse in the middle of a so called ‘discussion’.

“Holtzmann, I told you, it’s just gonna be a mess.”

“But I don’t care!”

Erin shook her head as she made her way into the kitchen to put on coffee, “well maybe not, but I do. Just trust me, you do not want to be there when my parents get here, they will eat you alive – especially my mother! She _will_ be the death of you.”

Holtzmann sighed and mumbled to herself, “well rather me than you,” not thinking Erin would actually hear her.

“Listen,” Erin started, “I know you just want to be there for me, and that means so much to me. But my parents…” She shook her head again, “they’re not very nice people.”

Before Erin could say anything else, Holtzmann interrupted, “exactly! And that’s why I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am!”

Erin sighed, “this is impossible. You’re not gonna quit, are you?”

Holtzmann grinned and shook her head, “nope, I’m going with you. I’m like beach erosion, Erin – I’m happening.”

“What’s happening?” Abby asked, suddenly walking into the kitchen, Patty following behind her.

Erin turned to face them, “nothing! Nothing is happening.”

When Abby and Patty turned to look at Holtzmann, she shrugged, “Erin doesn’t want me to go with her to pick up her parents from the airport and then take them to dinner because she’s scared her mother will both eat me alive and send me running for the hills.”

Abby grimaced, “yeah, sorry Holtz, but I have to agree with Erin here, I don’t recommend that.”

“Yeah, no, me neither,” Patty spoke up.

“What is this, Yelp? Look, I don’t care. Like I said, I’m going.”

Erin looked at Abby and Patty, silently pleading for them to convince Holtzmann not to go. When they both just shrugged, however, Erin turned back to Holtzmann, trying one last time.

“Please…?”

Holtzmann walked to stand in front of Erin before reaching up and cupping her cheeks, “Erin.” When Erin made eye contact with her again, she continued, “I will be fine. Nothing they say will make me run away. I love you.”

Sighing, Erin gave up, “okay.”

Holtzmann’s smile widened, and she leaned forward to capture Erin’s lips with her own for a brief kiss, before heading upstairs to start her workday.

\----------------------------------------------

It was nearing the end of the work day when Holtzmann walked over to Erin, who hadn’t turned a single page in the journal she had supposedly been reading since they had walked upstairs that morning.

“Hey,” Holtzmann started before rounding Erin’s desk, and spinning her chair so she would be facing her.

Erin looked up at her with tired and nervous eyes, trying to put on a smile for Holtzmann before just sighing and leaning forward. She let her forehead fall to Holtzmann’s stomach, and she could feel Holtzmann running her fingers through her hair.

“I know,” was said sympathetically. Erin took one last deep breath, flooding her senses with all things Holtzmann, before lifting her head to look up at her.

“I’m still not really sure about this, Holtz, I don’t think you should come.”

Holtzmann rolled her eyes, “Erin, stop. It will be fine, _I_ will be fine. Now we should get going, your parents flight is supposed to be here in less than an hour.”

Reluctantly, Erin stood before taking a hold of Holtzmann’s hand and leading her downstairs.

“We’re leaving, goodbye forever!” Erin yelled dramatically over her shoulder to Patty and Abby.

Abby’s head popped up from under her desk where she had been searching through some old papers, “you will both be missed dearly.”

Patty yelled something undecipherable from the other room, and Erin and Holtzmann simply looked at each other and shrugged before turning back around and making their way towards the exit.

“I’ll drive,” Holtzmann said as she made her way around the car they had rented for the occasion.

“Oh good,” Erin started sarcastically, “maybe we’ll die before we even meet them. That would be nice.”

Holtzmann just gave her a sharp look over the car, and when Erin raised her hands in defeat, she shook her head and got in the car. Almost immediately, they were blasting 80’s tunes, and Erin somehow forgot about all her worries at the sight of Holtzmann singing and half-dancing to the music, completely oblivious to more than half of everything happening on the road around them.

\----------------------------------------------

The two had somehow made it all the way to the airport without crashing – they were even a few minutes early, which was highly unusual. After parking the car, they made their way inside and took at seat by the domestic arrivals.

Although Erin was trying to keep it together, her bouncing legs and her hands fidgeting was a dead giveaway. Not knowing what to say, Holtzmann simply grabbed the hand that was picking at Erin’s cast and gave it a light squeeze.

Erin looked at her and sighed, smiling sheepishly, “sorry, I guess I’m kinda nervous.”

“It’s okay,” Holtzmann smiled, before leaning in to whisper in Erin’s ear, “I’m kinda nervous too.”

Erin laughed, “there’s still time to run.” When Holtzmann laughed, Erin continued, as serious as ever “I’m serious. Run.”

Holtzmann was about to open her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a voice coming from behind them.

“Erin!” Erin grimaced at the sound of her mother’s voice, and looked to Holtzmann apologetically one last time before putting on the biggest fake smile Holtzmann had ever seen, and getting up, turning to face her mother.

“Mom,” Erin held her arms out and braced herself for the hug her mother was inevitably going to give her.

Not even a moment later the hug came, and Erin’s father walked up, before hugging her too.

“And you must be Holtzmann,” Erin’s mother said, directing her attention at Holtzmann.

Holtzmann shot out of her seat and held her arm out, “Jillian Holtzmann,” they shook hands, “so nice to meet you, Mrs. Gilbert.” She turned briefly to Erin’s father to shake his hand as well, “Mr. Gilbert.”

“Please,” Mrs. Gilbert started, putting on a smile that seemed much too rehearsed for Holtzmann’s liking, “call me June. And this,” she grabbed a hold of her husband’s arm, “is Robert.”

Holtzmann nodded, and Erin interrupted, eager to get this show on the road. “So, who’s hungry?”

“Starving,” Robert said, earning himself a pointed look from his wife.

After a few awkward seconds, and June telling Erin to ‘lead the way, darling’, Erin sighed heavily and motioned towards the exit. She and Holtzmann walked a few steps behind June and Robert, Holtzmann bringing and arm around Erin’s waist as they walked, both of them wishing for the day to come to an end sooner rather than later.

\----------------------------------------------

After a very intense car ride, with Erin’s mother screaming and yelling the entire drive to the diner they were now sat in. Needless to say, she was definitely not a fan of Holtzmann’s driving, and she made it very clear that she and Robert would be taking a taxi to the airport when they were leaving.

The four of them were now sat in a booth making polite conversation – well, as polite as it could be with the Gilbert’s there.

“So, Holtzmann, was it…? You go by your last name? That’s very… Interesting.”

“Mom,” Erin said harshly.

Holtzmann briefly smirked over at Erin, before looking over to June across the table, “yes, yes I do. It’s a nickname from when I was little, everyone seemed to think it suited me better than Jillian did, and I guess it just stuck.” 

“I can’t imagine why,” June mumbled not-so-discretely under her breath, earning herself another harsh glare from Erin.

Holtzmann, however, just shrugged it off and placed a hand on Erin’s thigh under the table, causing Erin to divert her attention away from her mother to look at Holtzmann. And luckily, Holtzmann smiling reassuringly at her while giving her thigh a light squeeze was all Erin needed to let go of whatever anger she’d felt before.

“Oh, Erin,” June gasped, bringing the two out of their bubble, “honey. You didn’t tell us your arm was broken, when did this happen?” She reached across the table and grabbed Erin’s cast clad arm, roughly pulling it towards her.

Erin grimaced at the rough treatment. Fair enough it didn’t hurt much, but Erin was known to be overly cautious, and the still healing arm was not an exception to this caution. “A few weeks ago, the cast is coming off in a couple of weeks actually.”

“Oh darling, why didn’t you tell us? Your father and I would have come down here sooner if we’d known.”

Erin’s jaw just about dropped to the floor then. Erin’s parents had shown no interest in Erin’s life until yesterday when they claimed to be interested in Erin’s work, so naturally she found it hard to believe they actually would have come out sooner if they’d known. Especially considering Erin’s previous attempts to get them to New York had all be massive failures.

Holtzmann could tell Erin was about to start something, based on Erin now sitting up straighter and her hands having turned into fists, so she decided to interject, starting by grabbing one of Erin’s hands to shift her attention. “Actually,” she started, “Erin broke it during one of our toughest busts yet. It was completely amazing. Even with the broken arm, she fought back and the entity was safely captured – all while in a tremendous amount of pain I assume.”

Erin looked at her with raised eyebrows, none of what she had just said was true, Holtzmann knew that. But the impressed looks on Erin’s parents faces let her know she’d done the right thing. She looked to Erin, and registering the raised eyebrows, she grinned widely and leaned in to place a kiss to her cheek.

“Really?” Robert said, suddenly engaging in the conversation, “with the broken arm and everything? New York seems to have really toughened you up, kid.”

“She sure did, Robert,” Holtzmann stated proudly. Deciding to put her luck to the test, she added some true facts into the mix, “did she tell you that she and Abby recently published what is now one of the most frequently read articles in the ‘journal of Parapsychology’?”

June looked over to Erin in shock, “she most certainly did not! Is this true, Erin?”

Nodding shyly, Erin added, “yes, almost immediately after the near-apocalypse, Abby and I immediately wrote down an account of our experiences and what it could potentially mean for the paranormal research field, and it got published almost right away.”

“Oh, honey, we’re so proud of you,” Robert said with a smile.

Erin smiled back, but she still wasn’t convinced. However, she supposed it was a start. And really, what more could she ask for?

\----------------------------------------------

The rest of the time at dinner was spent talking about the ghost busting business, Erin’s parents definitely wanted to hear more about these incredible things their daughter had been doing. June also took some time to tell them about how everyone from Erin’s old neighborhood was doing, and on more than one occasion did Erin want to argue with something her mother said, but every time Holtzmann would be right there to stop her from going off. Somewhere in the middle, Erin had even started to question why she was so reluctant to let Holtzmann come to this dinner in the first place, she was handling everything much better than she had ever imagined.

The night was soon coming to an end, and after a long discussion between Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, Erin and Holtzmann had driven them to their hotel, despite June’s many very loud protests, before heading over to Holtzmann’s apartment.

As Holtzmann was closing the door behind them, she heard Erin let out an ‘oof’, and she turned around to find Erin lying face down on the couch. She let out a loud laugh, walking over to Erin and leaning down, placing a kiss just behind Erin’s ear, before walking off into the kitchen.

Erin grinned into the couch before turning her head so she could both breathe and be heard if she said anything. Which she did when a few minutes passed and she had listened to Holtzmann rummaging around the kitchen with no signs of her returning any time soon.

“What are you doing?”

 “I’m making a cup of tea and a grilled cheese sandwich,” Holtzmann yelled back.

“What?” Erin laughed, “didn’t we _just_ eat?”

Everything was quiet for a few minutes, and Erin simply shrugged before turning around and sitting up slightly, grabbing the newspaper off the coffee table.

Shortly after, Holtzmann walked back into the living room where she sat the cup of tea down in front of Erin, before nudging her legs until Erin lifted them up just long enough for Holtzmann to sit down, so she could place her legs across Holtzmann’s lap.

“No, Erin, we didn’t _just_ eat,” she started, taking a bite of the grilled cheese. “It’s actually been almost an hour,” she corrected Erin.

Erin smiled and shook her head fondly, before grabbing the cup of tea from the table. She took a sip and sighed happily, “thank you.”

Holtzmann nodded, “you’re always welcome,” before going back to enjoying her grilled cheese.

Erin was sat simply looking at Holtzmann for a few moments before placing the newspaper down in her lap, “hey, Holtz?”

“Hmm?”

“Move in with me?” Erin asked, sounding a bit more insecure than she had intended.

Holtzmann stopped mid chew and looked at Erin, “huh?”

“Move in with me,” Erin repeated, but this time with more confidence.

Holtzmann stared at her wide eyed for a moment before swallowing, “move in with you?”

“Yes,” Erin nodded.

Holtzmann sat the now empty plate down on the table in front of her, before turning fully to face Erin. “Move in with you… Are you sure?” Erin smiled and nodded earnestly, “I’m only asking, because, well, I mean, living with me isn’t always the easiest thing to do.” 

Erin shook her head, still smiling, “I don’t care. We already basically live together, and I want you there when I go to sleep, and when I wake up… I want you around when I’m feeling awful and when I’m overjoyed! I want you at your highest and I want you at your lowest – I just want you. I love you, Jillian Holtzmann, move in with me?”

Holtzmann was grinning from ear to hear, and she nodded as she leaned forward to kiss Erin sweetly. When she pulled back she was still nodding, even more enthusiastically now than before, “I would love to move in with you.”


	9. Just because

Erin was the first to wake the following morning, and as memories of grilled cheese and moving plans came to mind from the previous night, she couldn’t contain the huge grin that spread across her face. She stretched before turning around in Holtzmann’s arms and rubbing her nose against Holtzmann’s cheek. Holtzmann didn’t wake, but she tightened her hold on the other woman reflexively. Erin, still smiling widely, placed a light kiss to Holtzmann’s nose, and when she scrunched up her nose, Erin almost squealed thinking about how cute it was. Managing to somehow contain her overwhelming adoration to the woman next to her, Erin resorted to placing butterfly kisses all over Holtzmann’s face until eventually Holtzmann groaned. 

“Eriiiiin,” Holtzmann whined out, “sleeeep.”

Erin laughed lightly, before pecking Holtzmann’s cheek one last time, deciding to give Holtzmann a couple minute. She brought a hand up to run through blonde waves, while taking in Holtzmann’s peaceful sleeping face.

After a few minutes had passed, Holtzmann all of a sudden let out an exaggerated huff and rolled over so she was practically on top of Erin, who let out an 'oof’. Holtzmann buried her face in the nook of Erin’s neck, sighing, "I can’t fall asleep again." When Erin only laughed, Holtzmann lifted herself up so she was hovering above her. She looked down at Erin with an exaggerated pout, “it’s not funny, it’s like 8am!” She huffed and let herself fall down again on top of Erin, mumbling into her shoulder, “you’ve turned me into a person with a normal sleep pattern.”

Erin laughed and kissed the side of Holtzmann’s head, “oh yes, God forbid you wake up before noon – the horror!”

Holtzmann couldn’t help but laugh then too, and she brought her arms around Erin before rolling onto her back, effectively swapping their positions. Somewhat used to this by now, Erin simply lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at Holtzmann. Holtzmann, however, just shrugged and hugged Erin closer to her, before closing her eyes again, already feeing herself falling asleep again.

“Hey, no,” Erin started, “none of this, no going back to sleep. We’re supposed to meet my parents in a couple of hours.”

“Shhh, ‘s okay, just five minutes,” Holtzmann mumbled, more asleep than awake at this point.

As much as Erin wanted to argue, if she was being honest with herself, she wouldn’t mind a couple more minutes of this. After all, Holtzmann was a pretty comfortable pillow. So with that, she yawned, before getting comfortable, falling asleep herself within seconds.

\----------------------------------------------

Holtzmann groaned as she woke up later.

“Erin,” she whined, “phone.”

Erin turned her head and mumbled, “shhh, don’t care, sleep.”

Holtzmann was more than happy with that answer, so she declined the call. However, just as she was getting comfortable again, the phone started ringing a second time.

Erin groaned and reached blindly for her phone. When she couldn’t find it, she whined at Holtzmann, “Holtzmann, phone.”

Holtzmann reluctantly opened her eyes again to locate the phone, before handing it over to Erin.

“Hello…?” Erin answered sleepily while sitting up, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She sat back against the headboard while nodding absentmindedly to whoever was on the phone. Holtzmann laid her head in Erin’s lap before taking the hand not holding the phone and placing it on top of her own head, silently asking her to play with her hair. Erin smiled to herself, but obliged none the less, before getting back to her phone call. “Yes, no, yeah, I’m still here, what’s up? … Yes, mother, I’m aware… Yep, aware of that too… I’m sure we can figure it out. Listen, if you were just calling to make me feel bad, you’ve done that, so we can hang up now, okay? … Oh sure, I’m the rude one here. Look, mom, the longer we’re on the phone the longer it will take before we get there, alright? … well, good. I’m going to hang up now… bye mom.” She hung up with a sigh, and looked down to Holtzmann to find her looking back.

“I take it we are now late to meet them…?” Holtzmann asked, smiling sheepishly.

Erin nodded, “oh yeah, we are SO late.”

“So we should get going then…?”

Erin nodded, but instead of moving, she looked down at Holtzmann, beginning to trace her face lightly. Holtzmann smiled sweetly up at Erin, and at that exact moment, Erin became sure of one thing – she wanted nothing more than to spend her entire life with this woman that laid before her.

When Erin’s tracing stopped, and Holtzmann saw she had zoned out, she sat up and kissed Erin’s cheek, bringing her out of her thoughts, before climbing out of the bed and starting the search for something to wear. She soon found what she was looking for and quickly got dressed before leaving the bedroom to put together some kind of breakfast they could eat on the way over to Erin’s parents.

When Erin walked into the kitchen some minutes later, Holtzmann turned her head to give her a quick smile in the middle of buttering up the last piece of toast, but once she looked she found it hard to stop. Therefore, what was intended to be a quick smile turned into Holtzmann staring, if only for a moment, before blushing lightly and looking away, mumbling something indecipherable. 

Erin smirked as she walked over to Holtzmann, “I’m sorry, what?”

Holtzmann didn’t take her eyes off what she was making, and just shrugged, “you look cute, okay?”

Erin laughed and stepped up to Holtzmann, turning her to face her so she could bring her arms around Holtzmann’s waist and pull her closer to her, before leaning in to kiss her sweetly. “Thank you,” she grabbed a piece of toast from the counter and took a bite before adding with her mouth full, “oh and we really should go, are you ready?”

Holtzmann put back everything she’d taken out of the fridge and moved to put her boots on before grabbing her own food, “yep, let’s go!”

\----------------------------------------------

The two had eventually made it to Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert’s hotel, where Erin had been berated by her mother for a good ten minutes before they made their way over to the firehouse to give them a tour of their workspace. Holtzmann could feel her anger rise in her, but Erin had given her a look that said “do not get into this, I’m okay,” so, reluctantly, she had let it go.

When they entered the firehouse, Erin called out for Abby and Patty, “hello?!” There was no response, so she tried again as she walked fully into the station, “Abby…? Patty…?” There was still no response, so Erin walked over to Abby’s desk to find a note saying she and Patty were out on a supply run and wouldn’t be back until later. “Great,” she mumbled to herself, before turning back around to announce, “Abby and Patty are out, they’re sorry they missed you.”

Erin’s parent’s, however, didn’t respond as they were much too occupied touching everything and looking around the mess that was supposedly their workplace.

“So this is it, huh? This is uhh, this is where you work then?” Erin’s mother eventually piped up, sounding displeased with what she was seeing.

Rolling her eyes, Erin responded, “yes, this is where we work most of the time. My desk is upstairs though, this floor is all Abby and Patty.”

Her mother nodded and let out a breath of relief, making her way towards the staircase. Little did she know that the breath of relief she had just let out was released much too soon, the second floor of the building was no less messy – in fact, it was quite possibly worse than the first floor due to all of Holtzmann’s ‘future projects’, also known as ‘a pile of scrap metal’ in a pile that was now taking up much more space than its initial corner.

“I’m amazed you get any work done in this mess to be honest,” Erin’s father spoke up now, “I mean, it’s a little disturbing, isn’t it?”

“Oh, that’s my bad, Mr. Gilbert, I’m afraid I’m not a very organised person. Well, it’s more of an organised mess, but I suppose to an untrained eye it would just look like, well, a mess!” Holtzmann laughed it off, and Erin was glad she did, as she herself was getting progressively more tired of her parents’ open disappointment. They had barely been in the firehouse for ten minutes, and she could tell her parents were itching to either leave, or hire a massive clean-up crew to get the place up to their standards. Needless to say, Erin was more than happy they would be leaving later that day.

\----------------------------------------------

Erin had taken a deep breath, counted to ten, and started talking about her recent work to her parents for the rest of their time at the firehouse while Holtzmann had been tinkering with one thing or another, figuring she might as well get something done while they were there. When they eventually left, they spent the rest of the day doing touristy stuff and eating lunch, before they were now back at the airport, waving Erin’s parents off.

Her parents walking out of sight was enough for Erin to let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank God their trip was only over one night, because Erin was very done with it all by the time they left.

“So,” Holtzmann began as she took a seat on a bench right next to where they had been standing in the middle of the airport, “what happens now?”

Erin shrugged, taking a seat next to her, “I have no idea, I thought that would kill us. “

A brief moment of silence passed before Holtzmann burst out laughing. Erin laughed with her and laced their fingers together, laying her head down on Holtzmann’s shoulder, who placed a kiss to the top of her head. Holtzmann carefully lifted Erin’s head a moment later, and she was about to say something when her phone went off. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and smiled apologetically while holding up a finger. She fished her phone out of her pocket and answered it, “hello? … Ahh, I see… No, that’s okay, we’ll be right over.”

“Patty?” Erin asked.

“Patty,” she confirmed, “crazy lady with a ghost in her house.” She stood up and held a hand out to Erin.

Erin took the hand that was offered to her, but raised her eyebrows at Holtzmann, “actual crazy lady, or crazy lady because she can’t handle a ghost?”

Holtzmann smirked, “the second one.”

\----------------------------------------------

The two of them had regrouped with Abby and Patty at the firehouse, changed into their jumpsuits, and then driven out to the address they’d been given. They were greeted by an older lady, and as usual it was Abby who handled the conversation with the lady, while the other three gather up their gear and made their way up to the house.

At this point, simple busts like this one were routine for the ghostbusters, and everything went more than well. Holtzmann was just loading the ghost trap along with her gear in the back of the car when she heard the others talking with the owners about food. Hungry as she was, she hurried back to the others just in time to hear the lady say she was the owner of a restaurant down town and she would love to give them a free meal as thanks.

They all looked at each other unsurely, so Holtzmann stepped up and smiled sweetly at the lady, excusing them for a moment. “One moment please,” she said as she huddled the gang together a few steps over. “Okay, so obviously accepting this would be wrong. But on the other hand, if we wuss out and decline this offer we get nothing.” When everyone still looked unsure, Holtzmann rolled her eyes and tried again, “okay, let’s vote,” she quickly turned to Erin and jokingly added, “Erin, you don’t get a vote.”

 “Hey!” Erin slapped Holtzmann’s arm before shrugging, “I was gonna vote for free stuff.”

They were all a little bit taken aback, but it was Holtzmann who visibly raised her eyebrows and spoke up, “really?” She asked incredulously, “well look at you! But okay, I guess that’s settled then?” She looked to Abby and Patty for confirmation as well, and when they both nodded as well, they turned back to the lady and thanked her so much for her offer that they were more than happy to accept.

They all got in the car and while Holtzmann started the drive back to the firehouse, the others agreed they would all go to their respective homes and get cleaned up and changed before meeting up later for dinner.

\----------------------------------------------

Holtzmann was laid out on her couch later, having made it back to the firehouse only to leave to get cleaned up. She was trying to read the newspaper while Erin took a shower, but before she knew it she was out like a light.

Erin walked into the living room some minutes later to find Holtzmann asleep on the couch, newspaper still in hand. She smiled to herself as she walked over to her, crouching down next to Holtzmann’s face, placing a hand on her cheek.

Holtzmann stirred slightly and cracked an eye open, “hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Erin said as she stood up again, “shower’s yours if you want it,” moving to step away.

Deciding to ignore showering for now, Holtzmann reached for Erin who stopped when Holtzmann’s hand came around her wrist, and she looked down at her with questioning eyes. Holtzmann, however, just grinned before tugging at her wrist, making her fall down on top of Holtzmann.

Laughing, Erin tried to push herself up again, only to be held back. “Holtz, come on, we’re supposed to meet the others in an hour.” Holtzmann brought her lips to Erin’s neck then, bringing forth a low moan. “I’m serious,” she tried again, also trying to ignore Holtzmann’s lips that were making their way up to her jaw, “we really should get ready.” Holtzmann hummed in agreement, but didn’t stop. Erin didn’t have it in her to keep protesting, so instead she said, “oh, who cares,” before turning her head to bring their lips together. She could feel Holtzmann smiling into the kiss, and was unable to stop her own smile spreading across her face. The kiss became progressively more heated, until eventually the need for air became too much for them both and they broke apart panting, trying to catch their breaths.

“I will never,” Holtzmann began, speaking between breaths, “get tired of doing that.”

Erin grinned and laid her head down on Holtzmann’s chest, “me neither, I love doing that.”

“But we really need to get moving.”

Erin sighed, “do we _really_ though?”

“Uhm… Yes. Erin, there’s free food, of course we need to get moving!”

Erin laughed, but moved off of Holtzmann, “fine, go get ready and we’ll leave if that’s what you really want…”

“I mean,” Holtzmann started as she sat up and moved closer to Erin, “what I _want_ is to keep doing what we were doing.” She moved some stray hairs behind Erin’s ear as she leaned in and placed a kiss to Erin’s jaw, “but what we both probably _need,_ before any of that, is food… Actually, _free_ food.”

Erin turned her head to capture Holtzmann’s lips with her own, “really?”

Holtzmann pulled back reluctantly and let her forehead fall to Erin’s, “well now I’m starting to question my choices…”

Erin let out a laugh before pecking Holtzmann’s lips one last time, “no, you’re right. And I am actually hungry, so get a move on!” She shooed Holtzmann up off the couch and towards the bedroom.

Holtzmann sighed dramatically and started walking away, only to turn back for a second, “to be continued?”

“To be continued,” Erin agreed.

Holtzmann re-emerged a few minutes later, announcing she was ready, and the two left the apartment and made their way towards the restaurant.

As they were walking down the street Holtzmann grabbed Erin’s hand, receiving a light squeeze in response.

“Your hands are always so warm,” Erin stated.

“Well, let’s also take into consideration your corpse-like hands and just say that my hands are no warmer than is normal,” Holtzmann laughed.

Erin nudged her gently then, “hey! I just have bad circulation, it’s not my fault I’m always cold.”

Holtzmann just laughed, and before they knew it they were outside the restaurant where Abby and Patty were already waiting for them. Inside, they were greeted by the same lady who had offered them the free meal, and lead to a table towards the back of the restaurant before they were handed menu’s and being offered drinks.

They placed their orders for food while receiving drinks a few moments later, Patty announcing she was going to make a toast, “to friendship, paranormal activity, and accepting bribes!”

They all laughed and brought their glasses together, “cheers,” as they settled into easy conversation, enjoying the quiet night.

\----------------------------------------------

By the time dinner was over and they were about to leave the restaurant, both Holtzmann and Erin was a little bit tipsy. They’d made it back to Holtzmann’s apartment, and the second Holtzmann had closed the door she was attacked by Erin who pushed her back against the door and attached her lips to Holtzmann’s.

Holtzmann moaned into the kiss, feeling her brain go fuzzy for more reasons than the alcohol she had consumed previously. She spun them around and let her hands wander from Erin’s waist down to cup butt, squeezing lightly eliciting a gasp from the other woman. Her hands traveled down further to the back of Erin’s thighs so she could lift her up. Erin responded by wrapping her legs around Holtzmann who then walked backwards towards the bedroom. She placed Erin down on the bed while she herself settled straddling Erin, before bending down to bring their lips together again.  

A few minutes passed, hands exploring and breaths mingling together, until Erin couldn’t stop a yawn that escaped. Holtzmann immediately burst out laughing, as this was not an unusual occurrence.

“I’m sorry,” Erin said, just as embarrassed as the first time.

“No, it’s okay,” Holtzmann said before kissing the tip of Erin’s nose and laying down beside her, opening her arms up so Erin could snuggle up closer to her.

Erin breathed in deeply as she placed her head on Holtzmann’s chest, smiling to no one in particular, just because. “So where are we going to live?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, are we gonna live here, or my current place, or find a new place…?” Erin turned her head to look at Holtzmann.

Holtzmann furrowed her brows, “good question. Any thoughts?”

“I just keep thinking about how much more convenient your place is than mine. It’s right next to the firehouse, it’s extremely central…” She trailed off.

“Yes to all of that, but it’s also not in great shape. Your place is nice, there are no fire hazards, and it’s bigger.”

Erin hummed in agreement, “sure, but it’s pretty far away from here, which means we can’t walk to work – or anywhere except the subway station, really.”

Holtzmann thought about it for a moment, “we could get a car?” She suggested.

“OR! Or… We could live past 50…?”

Sighing, Holtzmann replied, “I guess so, if you really want to.”

They both fell into laughter, and when it started to die down, Erin quietly added, “I really do though. I need so much more time with you before I die.”

Holtzmann dropped a kiss to Erin’s forehead, tightening her hold on her, before answering, “no car. I don’t really mind where we end up, I just want you to be happy wherever that is. I’m happy if you’re happy, you are my happiness, Erin.”

“I’ll be happy as long as you’re there. And I like being here, it’s grown on me. It’s very you, so really it was inevitable that I’d end up liking it here.”

“Suppose we could fix it up a bit too, paint some walls, maybe switch out some furniture and stuff…”

Erin yawned again, “yeah, that could be nice. If you want to…”

“We’ll look into it tomorrow. I think someone really needs to get some sleep.”

Erin laughed sleepily, but could feel herself drifting off into unconsciousness, “I love you, Holtzmann.”

Holtzmann grinned, “I love you, Erin,” and within seconds they were both fast asleep.


	10. Because I figured we'd never need it...?

After that night, Erin and Holtzmann had made a plan to paint the living room and hall, and Erin had reluctantly agreed to give Holtzmann a bit of artistic freedom when it came to one of the walls in the bedroom. They also agreed to change out some furniture, so they decided they would head out to IKEA once Erin’s cast was off.

In the week from then to the time Erin got her cast off, all four of the ghostbusters had helped out in getting Erin moved out of her apartment and into Holtzmann’s apartment. When Abby and Patty had heard, they had been overjoyed, both of them thinking it was about time something like this happened. They were happy that Erin and Holtzmann had each other, and for their happiness. That being said, on more than one occasion had Abby dragged Patty out – or vice versa – when the PDA became too much to handle.

Now, a week and a half later, Erin’s cast was off, and she and Holtzmann had planned to take the trip to IKEA. They had gotten up early because they planned to take the Ecto-1, and despite Holtzmann’s many reassurances, Erin was convinced that car would be packed full of gear – gear that while useful most of the time, would not be useful in IKEA when shopping for furniture. So, Holtzmann had been dragged out of bed and down to the fire station earlier than she would have liked, and much to her own dismay, the car was, indeed, full of normally-useful-now-turned-useless gear. Holtzmann simply smiled at Erin sheepishly and told her she’d sort it out. She also delightfully added that they would be on their way before Erin knew it.

\----------------------------------------------

It was a couple of hours later when Holtzmann saw the light at the end of the tunnel. While Holtzmann had been sorting it all out, Erin had been sitting on a stool in a corner of the garage with a cup of coffee and the New York Times crossword of the day.

“Nine letter word. The hint is _seesaw_ ,” Erin called out.

“Pendelum?”

“That’s eight letters”

“Alternate?”

Erin laughed, “still eight, Holtz.”

“Uhm… Teetering?”

Erin looked down briefly before looking back up, “go fish.”

Holtzmann stopped then, taking a moment to really think. “Do you know any of the letters?” 

“Fourth letter is an ‘I’, and the last letter is ‘E’.”

Holtzmann sat down everything she was holding before moving to stand beside Erin, looking down at the crossword to see what Erin was doing. “And,” Holtzmann started as she moved away again no more than a minute later, “the first letter is ‘O’. So it’s probably ‘oscillate’, don’t you think?”

Erin looked down in shock, _the first letter is-_ “what do you mean the first letter is ‘O’?”

It was Holtzmann’s time to laugh then, “‘pronunciation’? The vertical one hitting the first letter of seesaw? _Articulation_. Fits perfectly with everything else.”

Erin looked down at her crossword again, “ahh, of course!” She filled in the word before mumbling to herself, “how did I miss that…?”

\----------------------------------------------

Holtzmann had gotten the car ready soon after ‘oscillate’, and they had made it safely to IKEA.

"What are we looking for again?" Holtzmann asked, grabbing Erin’s hand as they followed the pathway leading them through the wonders of IKEA.

"Uhh," Erin thought for a second, "couch, desk, kitchen table and chairs-"

"Oh, and trivets!" Holtzmann interrupted excitedly.

Erin laughed and shook her head lightly, "Sure, and trivets. Uhh, a full-length mirror, and one or two bookcases depending on size and price. And I think that’s it!"

"How about a Hurdal?" Holtzmann said with a ridiculous, terrible, Swedish accent, as she pointed towards a dresser in a display. 

"Uhm no, no I don’t think so." 

"No? You don’t want a Hurdal in our home?"

Erin just laughed, "you are ridiculous." 

\----------------------------------------------

After some walking, some looking, and some picking out, Holtzmann suddenly let go of Erin’s hand and ran over to a new display. She let herself drop to the couch, putting her feet up on the table and sighing, looking back to Erin who had just caught up, "home sweet home."

Erin grinned down at Holtzmann before taking a seat next to her, snuggling up closer and putting her head down on her shoulder. “Our place sure is lovely, isn’t it?” She added dreamily.

Holtzmann craned her neck to look at Erin, slightly surprised she was actually playing along, "why yes, yes it is." 

"Ooh, I think Master Chef is on!" Erin exclaimed happily, reaching for the remote lying on the table in front of them. She aimed it at the TV at the end of the display, pressing the on-button a few times before turning to Holtzmann with a pout, "the TV’s not working." 

Holtzmann raised her eyebrows, "oh?" Before standing up and declaring, "well, not to worry, my lovely lady, for I am an engineer and I shall have a look." She walked over to where the TV was placed and bent down to pick up the unplugged TV chord. She studied it for a moment before looking back to Erin, "it appears someone has stolen our socket," she turned back to look behind the TV before gasping and feigning shock, "oh and our whole wall as a matter of fact!" 

"Oh," Erin said sadly, before standing up, "well, I am famished. Let’s eat." 

The two linked arms and made their way into the kitchen on the other side of the wall behind the couch. 

Letting go of Erin’s arm, Holtzmann took a seat at the already set table, "mmm. Smells delicious." 

"Oh but darling," Erin turned around where she was standing in search of an oven. Finding one, she walked over and opened the door, before taking out an imaginary tray, "that’s because it _is_ delicious." She then proceeded to place nothing on the table in front of Holtzmann, before placing a kiss to Holtzmann’s cheek, "I made it myself!"

"Ahh, duck." 

"Your favorite." 

"Mhm," Holtzmann picked up the knife and fork next to the plate in front of her, and made a show of digging into the imaginary food. 

Meanwhile, Erin walked over to the sink in the room only to find it too, of course, didn’t work. She turned towards Holtzmann to find her already looking at her, before placing her hands on her hips in mock frustration, "gosh darn it, the sink is broken." 

"Well, that’s okay, because," Holtzmann looked around and all but jumped out of her chair and ran into the next display, "that’s why we bought a home with two kitchens."

Erin ran up to her and leant in as if to kiss her, "you’re so smart." Holtzmann started to lean in too, but just before their lips touched Erin pulled back and made a run for it, calling over her shoulder, "I’ll race you to the bedroom." 

Holtzmann was stunned for a minute, before laughing a running after Erin.

Erin just managed to jump onto a bed before Holtzmann caught up, and when she did, she stopped at the foot of the bed and grinned down at Erin. She proceeded to crawl up the bed until she was straddling Erin, leaning down to capture her lips. However, just before their lips met, Holtzmann pulled back ever so slightly. And while looking at Erin as if she were the whole world she said, "darling, I don’t know how to tell you this, but," she briefly turned her head sideways before whispering to Erin, "there’s a Chinese family in our wardrobe."

Erin bursted out laughing before dragging her hands from where they had been placed on Holtzmann’s hips, up to the back of her neck and pulling her down to her into a searing kiss. They heard the Chinese family gasp and leave, and when they pulled back they were both laughing, Holtzmann laying down next to Erin.

Erin turned on her side so she was facing Holtzmann again, before bringing a hand up to gently caress Holtzmann’s cheek. Holtzmann’s eyes fluttered close and a gentle smile spread across her face as she sighed happily. A smile spread across Erin’s face as well, and she leant in to peck Holtzmann’s lips before pulling back and meeting her eyes.

“You’re so beautiful,” Holtzmann said in what was barely a whisper.

A blush made its way to Erin’s cheeks as her smile widened and she leaned in to peck Holtzmann’s lips again, “I love you.” 

\----------------------------------------------

Their trip to IKEA had continued in a very similar fashion, Holtzmann playing pretend and Erin happily playing along, until they eventually found everything they were looking for. After making the drive back to their apartment, Holtzmann immediately flopped down on the couch face first, before Erin followed her example and laid down on top of Holtzmann.

When Holtzmann proceeded to mumble something into the pillow that her face was currently buried in, Erin lifted herself off her, “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Holtzmann huffed and turned over, “I said, should we just get takeout and watch that shark documentary and maybe, but completely optional, fool around, and then not assemble anything we bought tonight?”

Erin smiled deviously before turning and making her way down the hall towards the bedroom.

Holtzmann grinned and shook her head when she was sure Erin couldn’t see her, before sitting up and calling their favorite Chinese place, ordering them some food. Just as she was hanging up a moment later, Erin came walking back out in one of Holtzmann’s oversized t-shirts and a pair of blue fuzzy socks with sharks on them.

When Holtzmann looked at the socks and laughed, Erin only shrugged in response, “I thought they were appropriate,” before taking a seat.

Holtzmann just nodded, before following Erin’s example and changing herself. Coming back, she took a seat in the corner of the couch, tugging at Erin’s sleeve to bring her closer. Erin grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch, crawling into Holtzmann’s arms, before covering the both of them. Holtzmann placed a kiss to Erin’s temple, sighing contently, officially starting their night in.

\----------------------------------------------

The following day furniture had been assembled, the two of them having finished almost everything, including moving the old couch out when they had gotten a response to their craigslist ad reading ‘beat up, but very loved, couch for cheap – come and get it’. So almost everything had been put together and arranged into place, except for the kitchen table and chair set.

Erin was about to open the first chair box when she caught sight of one seemingly crushed box behind it. She furrowed her brows and dropped what she was currently holding and opening in favor of picking up and opening up this beat up looking box.

“Hey, Holtz?” Erin called over her shoulder, currently pulling out dented pieces of wood that were somehow supposed to become a chair.

“Huh?”

 **“** Was this box like this when we picked it up yesterday?” Erin pointed to the box sat to her left.

Holtzmann briefly looked over from where she was finishing up the table, “uhh yeah, I believe it was!”

“What? Come on, no…”

Holtzmann furrowed her brows at that and gave Erin her full attention then, walking over to her, “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong’? This box looks totally crushed, didn’t you think maybe that could mean what’s inside it could also be, oh I don’t know, uhh… _crushed?”_

Holtzmann simply shrugged, “Not really, I just thought it gave it some character, you know?”

 “You thought it-” Erin stopped herself, pinching the bridge of her nose, sighing, “you thought it gave it some character... That’s great, character beats beat up furniture any day, right?”

“Uhm, no… But in my defense,” Holtzmann put her hands up in pretend surrender, “I was way too distracted. I should not have been in charge of boxes.”

“Distracted? With what exactly?”

“You?” Holtzmann answered as if it were the most obvious thing ever. When Erin only raised her eyebrows Holtzmann took a step closer, “I mean, holding hands,” she intertwined their hands together then, “and playing house with you in IKEA? Consider me distracted for life.”

Erin rolled her eyes, but pulled on the hands in hers none the less, bringing the two chest to chest, “oh, really?”

Holtzmann’s eyes darted between Erin’s lips and clear blue eyes, and all she could do was to instinctively wet her own lips and say, “really,” before leaning in to bring their lips together.

Erin smiled into the kiss, but broke it a short moment later. “As much as I love doing that, we really do need to get this stuff up, it’s the last thing.”

Holtzmann sighed and nodded sadly before quickly pecking Erin’s lips one more time, “alright, let’s have a look at this so called ‘crushed’ chair of yours.”

They unpacked the rest of the parts and started putting it together, and before they knew it, it was complete. They both stood with their heads slightly cocked to one side, looking at the chair with narrowed eyes.

“Should we return it?” Erin tried carefully after a couple of minutes of looking.

“I doubt they’ll let us, it looks… I don’t want to say ugly, but it doesn’t look great.”

“Exactly!” Erin turned to face Holtzmann then, “so they’ll let us return it because we didn’t do this, duh.”

“Well, I kind of – don’t be mad – I kind of threw out the receipt earlier because I figured we’d literally never use it for anything… Which we wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for this one chair! And so now, sadly, for all anyone at IKEA will know, _we_ made it like that.”

Erin was shaking her head now, “no. No, I refuse to accept this. I’m gonna go back over there.” She made her way towards the door then, only to be held back by Holtzmann who raised her eyebrows.

“And…?”

“And?” Erin was confused.

Holtzmann rolled her eyes slightly, “and what? You’re gonna go over there and what…?”

“And I am going to convince them to let us return it.” Erin was getting more and more frustrated by the minute.

Sighing, Holtzmann answered, “Erin. We have no leverage. We have no receipt, no evidence we did or didn’t do this, we have nothing.”

“We have my fucking charm!” Erin all but yelled back.

Holtzmann’s eyebrows shot up and she tried, but failed, to hold back a smile at Erin’s sudden outburst. She looped her arms around Erin’s neck, before bending her head slightly to meet her eyes, “true, yes, we _do_ have your charm… And you are very hard to resist after all.”

Erin just looked at her for a moment before they both burst out laughing, Erin letting her head fall to Holtzmann’s shoulder, sighing.

A moment later, Holtzmann gently grabbed Erin’s face, lifting it from her shoulder before looking into her eyes again, “you know what? I don’t think we should do anything. It doesn’t look _that_ bad – it just has character! And let’s be real, that does go great with everything else in this home, don’t you think?”

“Well, I don’t know about _everything_ ,” Erin started, getting calmer by the minute, bringing a hand up to Holtzmann’s cheek, “but it certainly goes with you.” She thought about it for another moment, “so I guess we could always just keep it.”

Holtzmann threw her arms in the air and grinned wide in a brief moment of victory, “yes! Brilliant.” Before pecking Erin’s cheek and going back to finishing the table she was working on.

\----------------------------------------------

No more than an hour later, they had finished up everything, and they were stood in the kitchen doorway, looking at the table and the chairs. Holtzmann had her arm around Erin, and Erin had her head kind of laid on Holtzmann’s shoulder.

“You know,” Holtzmann turned to look at Erin, “I like the chair, I think it works with the room.”

Erin laughed and let her head fall, but she still turned to face her. She shrugged lightly, “yeah, I don’t know what it is, but it kind of does.”

Holtzmann smirked, “you’re kind of annoyed it works, aren’t you?”

Erin threw her arms up in mock frustration then, turning back to look at the beat up chair, “yes! Okay, yes, I am maybe a tiny bit frustrated that it does actually seem to be working. It’s not supposed to work…”

It was Holtzmann’s turn to laugh as she pecked Erin’s cheek, turning back to look at the chair herself, “I know baby, I know. But I’m pretty beat up and you like me, right? You’ll learn to love the chair.”

“You’re right, I like you… And I already kind of like the chair,” Erin admitted bitterly.

Holtzmann, however, simply grinned, “see? Everything is good, we’ll be alright.”

Erin sighed and smiled, leaning into Holtzmann again, “we’ll be alright.”


End file.
